That would be a tough nut to swallow
Posted: February 20, 2013 Filed under: ACTION, crack, FOOD, nut, pill, swallow, THINGS | Tags: bitter pill to swallow, blended idioms, conflations, crack, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, nut, pill, swallow, tough nut to crack, words 3 CommentsThis clever congruent conflation is a blend of “tough nut to crack” and “bitter pill to swallow”, both referring to hard things to do. Both also contain four words, and both involve actions. And of course a tough nut is always hard to swallow,
right? A big shout out to Susan E for sending me this one that she heard her husband utter last week.
Every tree has a silver lining
Posted: February 19, 2013 Filed under: alley, COLORS, PLACES, silver, THINGS, tree | Tags: blended idioms, cloud, every cloud has a silver lining, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, tree, words Leave a commentThe speaker was obviously meaning to say “every cloud has a silver lining”, but where did the tree come from? Possibly he was thinking of a silver maple, those messy trees that every yard seems to have. Or, as my “ol pal” suggests, the word “sliver” instead of “silver” floated up in the brain soup, suggesting wood. “Barking up the wrong tree” also might have been in the mix, even though the meaning is not remotely close to the intended meaning. Any other suggestions out there? Thanks to Art for sending this one to the site.
The possibilities are mindless
Posted: February 18, 2013 Filed under: THINGS | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mindless, mixed idioms, possibilities are endless, words 3 CommentsThis is another beauty contributed by Cicely. It is a mix of “possibilities are endless” and “mind boggling” I think. Or perhaps it describes which Stooge you prefer.
He’s as clean as apple pie
Posted: February 15, 2013 Filed under: Apple pie, FOOD, Whistle | Tags: apple pie, blended idioms, C Gonzalez, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, Washington nationals, whistle, words Leave a commentThis beauty was uttered by Max Gonzalez, the father of Washington Nationals’ pitcher, Gio Gonzalez, in response to accusations that his son took steroids. It is a mash up of “clean as a whistle” and “American as apple pie”. Thanks to Bruce for sending this one. For more on this malaphor and the Washington Post story, check out my Facebook page, Malaphors.
The sImilarities are deafening
Posted: February 14, 2013 Filed under: Silence | Tags: blended idioms, Deafening, expressions, humor, malaphors, mixed idioms, silence, words Leave a commentThis one came to me from a newspaper. It is a mixture of “silence is deafening” and “similarities are striking”. Heavy metal and movie theaters perhaps?
Throw it under the rug
Posted: February 12, 2013 Filed under: ACTION, brush, rug, sweep, throw | Tags: blended idioms, bus, Catholic Church, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, rug, sweep under the carpet, throw under the bus, words 2 CommentsThis mixed idiom was heard on NPR this morning in a story about the Catholic Church. This is a mixture of “sweep it under the rug (or carpet)” (hide or ignore something) and “throw him under the bus” (sacrifice someone for personal gain). It is similar to the 12/23/12 malaphor posting “brush it under the rug”. The confusion seems to lie in action words such as sweep, brush, and throw. Of course, many of us have thrown a few items under the rug when company came unannounced. Thanks Lauren for sending in this gem!
I don’t want to reinvent the horse
Posted: February 11, 2013 Filed under: ANIMALS, horse, THINGS, wheel | Tags: beat a dead horse, blended idioms, expressions, horse, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, reinvent the wheel, wheel, words 1 CommentThis malaphor is a mash up of “reinvent the wheel” (make unnecessary preparations) and “beat a dead horse” (waste time trying to do something that will not succeed), both involving wasted time. A big shout out to Cecily for providing this beauty.
He really threw a monkey wrench into that fire
Posted: February 8, 2013 Filed under: ACTION, ANIMALS, monkey, PLACES, THINGS, throw, wrench | Tags: adding fuel to the fire, blended idioms, expressions, fire, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, monkey wrench, words Leave a commentMy dear friend Cindy W. said when she said this one, everyone looked at her like she had “four heads”. This terrific malaphor thus is a 4 head winner. It is a mash up of “throw a monkey wrench in (something)” (to cause something to fail) and “throw gas (or fuel) on the fire” or “out of the frying pan into the fire” (both meaning make a bad situation worse), or even “several irons in the fire” (a number of possibilities).
English: Line art drawing of a monkey wrench. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: vervet monkey in the Kruger NP (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
He is turning around a new leaf
Posted: February 7, 2013 Filed under: ACTION, leaf, THINGS, turn | Tags: blended idioms, conflations, expressions, humor, language, leaf, malaphors, mixed idioms, turn over a new leaf, turning around, words Leave a commentMy daughter said this one yesterday and immediately texted me (I have malaphor hunters everywhere). This is a conflation of “turning around” and “turn over a new leaf”, both meaning to change. Here is a great example using the malaphor:
Oprah Winfrey has dropped 25 pounds on her new diet!! After launching her OWN network and a subsequent battle against low ratings Oprah packed on some pounds. This year however the media mogul is turning around a new leaf and hired a new chef.”
http://www.popularcritic.com/2012/06/20/oprah-winfreys-weight-loss-plan-revealed/
When it boils down to it
Posted: February 6, 2013 Filed under: ACTION, boil | Tags: blended idioms, boils down, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, when it comes down to it, words Leave a commentMartin, a professor at a famous university, saw this in a paper he was reviewing and shared it with me. It is a mash up of “when it comes right down to it” and “boils down to (something)”. It also is in a headline in that very popular website, justkateplus8.com:
When it boils down to it,isn’t Kate Gosselin a good-looking woman?
http://justkateplus8.com/when-it-boils-down-to-itisnt-kate-gosselin-a-good-looking-woman/
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