I’m fuming at the mouth
Posted: September 2, 2014 Filed under: mouth | Tags: congruent conflation, expressions, foaming at the mouth, fuming, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, running on fumes, words 2 CommentsThis is a congruent conflation of “fuming over (someone or something)” and “foaming at the mouth”, both meaning to be extraordinarily angry. The context makes sense: the speaker was trying to make a left turn against oncoming traffic and said, “”I’ll call you back in a minute. I’m fuming at the mouth trying to make this left turn”. “Running on fumes” also may be in the mix, as car fumes might certainly have been on her mind as well. A big thanks to Joseph Newcomer for sending this one in!
He’s pooping on your parade
Posted: June 29, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, congruent conflation, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, party pooper, raining on your parade, words Leave a commentThis alliterative congruent conflation is a mix of “party pooper” and “raining on your parade”, both meaning to spoil something. I suppose raining and pooping could also be part of the confusion, both being action verbs and, well, you know…. The mash up was spoken by that Mistress of Malaphors, Naomi David.
I fall asleep at the drop of a dime
Posted: June 26, 2014 Filed under: ACTION, CLOTHING, dime, hat, sleep, THINGS | Tags: blended idioms, congruent conflation, drop of a hat, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, stop on a dime, words 6 CommentsThis wonderful congruent conflation is a mash up of “at the drop of a hat” and “stop on a dime”, both meaning an action done instantly. Drop and stop are four letter words that rhyme, adding to the befuddlement. This beauty was heard at a court hearing. Kudos to Sam Edelmann for sending this one into Malaphor central!
The business side always throws you a loop
Posted: June 9, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Andre Miller, blended idioms, congruent conflation, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, throws you a curve, throws you for a loop, washington wizards, words Leave a commentSometimes it’s those nasty little prepositions that cause the mix up. In this case, backup point guard Andre Miller, talking about his desire to return to the Washington Wizards, said this nice congruent conflation. See http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2080250-andre-miller-38-says-he-has-a-lot-more-years-left-before-retiring-from-nba It is a mash up of “throws you for a loop” and “throws you a curve,” both meaning something unexpected that upsets or confuses someone. I also think the imagery of someone tossing a life preserver into the water is in play here. A big thanks to Mike Browning for spotting this subtle but excellent malaphor!
It’s like the cherry on top of the cake
Posted: June 5, 2014 Filed under: cake, cherry, FOOD | Tags: Animal Planet, blended idioms, cherry on top, congruent conflation, expressions, humor, icing on the cake, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idiom, treehouse masters, words 5 CommentsThis one was heard on the Animal Planet tv show, Treehouse Masters. Daryl, the foreman, was referring to a door on the treehouse that looked like a sarcophagus. It is a congruent conflation of “icing on the cake” and “cherry on top”, both meaning an extra enhancement to something. There are certainly cherries that appear on the top of some cakes, but not as common as sundaes. In fact there is a Quebec idiom, “la cerise sur le sundae”, also with the same meaning but the cherry is on the sundae, not cake. A shout out to my high school buddy, Marti Fenimore, for sending this one in!
We need to get our ducks together
Posted: May 16, 2014 Filed under: ANIMALS, duck | Tags: congruent conflation, ducks in a row, expressions, get your shit together, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, words Leave a commentThis nice congruent conflation is a mash up of “get our ducks in a row” and “get our shit together”, both meaning to get organized. This beauty was uttered by the Mistress of Malaphors, Naomi David. Thanks again Naomi!
He really blew the boat
Posted: March 28, 2014 Filed under: boat, THINGS | Tags: blended idioms, blew his chance, congruent conflation, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, missed the boat, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentThe speaker was referring to someone who had missed a big opportunity. This is a congruent conflation of “missed the boat” and “blew his chance”, both meaning to miss an opportunity. For some reason, “flew the coop” also comes to mind because of the rhyming of “flew” and “blew”. Nothing else comes to mind. A big shout out to Naomi David for sending this one in!
Put the metal on the gas
Posted: February 22, 2014 Filed under: pedal | Tags: blended idioms, congruent conflation, expressions, gas, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, pedal, pedal to the metal, step on the gas, words 2 CommentsThis is a congruent conflation of “put the pedal to the metal” and “step on the gas”, both meaning to speed up. I heard this one on a tv sports show uttered by Wally Szczerbiak. He was discussing at halftime that the team behind needed to step it up.
They were going butt-to-butt
Posted: January 29, 2014 Filed under: BODY PARTS, butt, head | Tags: butt, butting heads, congruent conflation, expressions, head, head butting, head-to-head, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentIn describing an angry argument, the speaker uttered this malaphor, a mash up of the phrases “head-to-head” and “butting heads”, both describing a confrontation or argument. Head butting also comes to mind, among other images… I will not display a picture for this malaphor. Many thanks to Naomi David for giving me this gem!
That’s a whole different ball of fish
Posted: January 24, 2014 Filed under: ANIMALS, ball, fish, kettle, THINGS | Tags: ball, congruent conflation, different ball of wax, different kettle of fish, expressions, fish, humor, kettle, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, wax, words Leave a commentThis is a mix of two phrases with the same meaning – “different ball of wax” and “different kettle of fish” (completely different or not at all similar). Fish ball soup might also be in the unconscious here (see picture). This type of malaphor involving phrases with the same or similar meanings is also referred to as a congruent conflation and is usually the most commonly uttered malaphor (and usually the best). Loyal follower David Spain unintentionally blurted this one out and referred it here. Thanks David!
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