I just barely scratched the tip of the iceberg

Posted: February 18, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On the MS NOW show, The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, Congressman Maxwell Frost was talking about going to the Justice Department and conducting a two-hour review of the unredacted Epstein files. Frost then uttered this nice congruent conflation of “barely scratching the surface” and “tip of the iceberg”, both referring to the beginning of a much larger issue or problem. Considering there are 3 million files, I think the Congressman’s description is accurate. A big thank you to Ron MacDonald for hearing this one and sending it in!

The needle that will break the camel’s back

Posted: February 16, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Nora Lee Notzon, a Republican commentator, was talking on the podcast, Leading Britain’s Conversation (LBC), about the Epstein Files and the impact on Keir Starmer. She said, “I think we saw a failure as a leader and this is probably just a needle that will break the camel’s back.” This is a mashup of “the straw that broke the camel’s back” (the final annoyance in a series of events that makes a situation unbearable) and “a camel through the eye of a needle” (used as part of a comparison to indicate that something is impossible or extremely difficult to accomplish). The latter phrase comes from the passage in the Bible (Luke 18:25), “For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”. “Camel” is the shared word here that causes the mental hiccup. You can hear the malaphor at 11:22 in this YouTube clip:

A tip of the toque to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one and sending it in!

He’s playing with a loaded rake

Posted: February 9, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This one was noticed in a Facebook group. A commenter said, “if Republican Chairman of the Oversight Committee James R. Comer thinks hauling Bill and Hillary Clinton in front of cameras is a political win, he’s playing with a loaded rake.” This is a mashup of “playing with a loaded gun” (engaging in extremely reckless behavior) and “stepping on a(n) (upturned) rake” (falling into a forseeable trap). As the contributor notes, “in other words a self-inflicted wound by doing something stupid.” A big shout out to Tom Justice for spotting this one and sending it in!

The ball’s in their hands

Posted: July 18, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk said Monday he is trusting the Trump administration to handle the files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein:

“Honestly, I’m done talking about Epstein for the time being. I’m going to trust my friends in the administration, I’m going to trust my friends in the government to do what needs to be done, solve it, ball’s in their hands,” he continued.

Charlie Kirk: On Epstein, ‘I’m going to trust my friends in the administration’

This is a congruent conflation of “the ball’s in your court” and “in your hands”, both meaning under one’s control or in possession.  Certainly you catch a ball with your hands so the mind sees “ball” and attaches that word to “hand”. in all likelihood.  “Out of our hands” may also be in the mix, although the meaning is the complete opposite to what the speaker was trying to convey.  Given the context, a Freudian slip?

Kudos to Mike Kovacs for spotting this one and sending it in!