The two hats should never cross
Posted: March 9, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: crossing paths, expressions, humor, malaphor, malaphors, Orlando Sentinel, Scott Maxwell, wearing two hats, words Leave a commentThis one is from a tweet posted by Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell. A reader wrote to him:
“Back when I was a pre-K teacher, I was also a responsible gun-owner. Never had a shooting, but if I had, I couldn’t have managed 20 kids AND a gun. The two hats should never cross.”
This is a mashup of “wearing two hats” (to hold or function in one position or role) and “crossing paths” (to meet someone by chance and not by choice). A tip of the hat to Tom Justice for seeing this one and sending it in.
Like two trains crossing in the night
Posted: April 1, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: crossing paths, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, strangers on a train, two ships passing in the night, words Leave a commentIn Louisville’s newspaper, the Courier-Journal, there was a story about a Tennessee basketball player and her father. ” So father and daughter have missed each other on this trip, as they do often, ‘like two trains crossing in the night,’ Diamond said. ”
As the contributor noted, this might be a three way mix of “two ships passing in the night” (individuals who are rarely in the same place at the same time), “crossing paths” (to meet someone by chance), and “strangers on a train” (not really an idiom but a Hitchcock movie). Certainly one from Louisville might be thinking of trains more than ships, given its location. A big thanks to Emerson for seeing this one and sending it on!
Malaphors 
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