He had the nurses eating out of his fingertips
Posted: September 2, 2013 Filed under: ACTION, BODY PARTS, eat, finger, hand | Tags: blended idioms, congruent conflations, eating out of my hand, expressions, humor, language, Little finger, malaphors, mixed idioms, twisted around the little finger, words 1 CommentI believe this is a congruent conflation of “eating out of his hand” and “twisted around his little finger“, both meaning to control or manipulate others. “At your fingertips” (within reach) might also be in the jumble. Regardless, this malaphor paints an unsanitary picture but one worthy of posting on Labor Day. Here’s to all the hardworking nurses out there! A shout out to Steve Grieme for sending this one in.
Off the cuff of my head
Posted: August 19, 2013 Filed under: BODY PARTS, cuff, head | Tags: African National Congress, blended idioms, congruent conflations, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, off the cuff, off the top of my head, South Africa, words Leave a commentThis is a congruent conflation of “off the top of my head” and “off the cuff”, both expressions meaning to speak without much thought or preparation. It is similar to the 9/16/12 post “he said it off the top of his cuff”. This malaphor came all the way from South Africa. An African National Congress (ANC) spokesperson during a radio interview, in avoiding difficult questions, responded with the opener: “Well, off the cuff of my head . . .” A shout out to Allan Muir for sending this one in!
Malaphors 
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