Plenty of hurdles to climb

Posted: May 11, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments
This malaphor was found in the The Boston Globe (below), announcing this year’s NFL schedule and discussing the New England Patriots’ challenges.  It is a mashup of “mountains to climb” (difficult challenges) and “clearing a hurdle” (overcoming an obstacle).  For some reason,  the phrase “clearing a hurdle” gets mixed up with other idioms a lot.  I have posted many on this website, including “And I’ve only jumped through the first one of these hurdles”, “we’ve jumped over the last hoop”, and one of my all time favorites, “we have so many hurdles to cross”.  https://malaphors.com/2014/04/25/and-ive-only-jumped-through-the-first-one-of-these-hurdles/  https://malaphors.com/2014/02/15/we-have-so-many-hurdles-to-cross/  https://malaphors.com/2018/01/23/weve-jumped-over-the-last-hoop/
Perhaps the writer was thinking of the great Jimmy Cliff song “Many Rivers to Cross” when he wrote this.  A big thanks to John Costello for spotting this one and sending it in.  here’s the link:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/05/07/sports/patriots-2020-schedule/

Patriots’ 2020 schedule released: Open vs. Dolphins at home; back-to-back games in Los Angeles in December

With multiple trips to the west coast and one big one to visit the defending Super Bowl champions, the Patriots have plenty of hurdles to climb this season.

Every one of us has a ticking time bomb on our head

Posted: May 8, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Speaking on NPR’s Marketplace, Christina Stembel, CEO of Farmgirl Flowers, said this one when she was referring to the difficulties being experienced by small businessess during the pandemic and associated business shutdowns.  It is a mashup of “price on our head” (an amount of money offered as a reward for one’s capture) and “sitting on a ticking time bomb” (a situation that will eventually become dangerous if not addressed).  Maybe the speaker was thinking about the Erie pizza bomber?  Not sure, but a big thanks to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one!

 

You’re making a really significant risk

Posted: May 6, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

This was from a headline in the Washington Post: “Fauci warns states rushing to reopen: ‘You’re making a really significant risk.”  This is a mashup of “making a mistake” (to do something incorrectly) and “taking a risk” (doing something with a high probability of a negative outcome).  “Taking” and “making” are mixed up here.   https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/01/fauci-open-states-coronavirus/

A big thanks to Barry Eigen for spotting this subtle one.

Salt Lake City is not through the weeds yet

Posted: May 1, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This is the headline in a recent Salt Lake City Tribune newspaper article, discussing the city’s need to continue practicing social distancing and mask wearing because of the Covid-19 virus.  Here is the headline:

https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2020/04/24/erin-mendenhall-salt-lake/

I think it is a mashup of “out of the woods” (out of danger) and “in the weeds” (consumed with details).  “Weeds” and woods” sound similar, contributing to the mixup.  Or perhaps Utah is thinking of legislating marijuana?  A big thanks to Kathy Shand for spotting this beauty.  @sltrib @slcmayor

That tops the cake

Posted: April 29, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The contributor’s mom said this one.  It is a congruent conflation of “takes the cake”  and “tops them all”, both meaning to win or be the most outstanding in some respect.  My guess is that the speaker was also thinking of a cake topper.  A big thanks to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one from his Mom and sending it in.

Is Papi pulling your goat?

Posted: April 27, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Yesterday over breakfast the contributor of this malaphor made some inane comment to his wife. Their 5 yr old granddaughter, who was visiting, then blurted out, “Is Papi pulling your goat?”  This is a mashup of “pulling (one’s) leg” (kidding or teasing someone) and “get (one’s) goat” (to irritate or annoy someone).  Certainly one can pull a goat, and vice versa (see pic).  And the words “pull” and “get” are similar in meaning.  Perhaps the little one had some pulled pork the night before.  Adn if you haven’t had it before, “pulled goat” is pretty good as well.

Interestingly, the origin of the phrase “get your goat” derives from a tradition in horse racing. Thought to have a calming effect on high-strung thoroughbreds, a goat was placed in the horse’s stall on the night before the race.   A big thanks to Dan Chavez who heard this one and sent it in.

They help put all the ducks in place

Posted: April 20, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My wife and I heard this one on the PBS Newshour.  A person was talking about how her parents are helping her during the pandemic.  This is a congruent conflation of “put your ducks in a row” and “fall in place”, both meaning to be organized or things fitting well.    I supposed one needs to put the ducks in their place when arranging them in a row.

I went around his back

Posted: April 15, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

At first blush, this sounds right but on closer inspection I think it’s a bona fide malaphor.  In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Jennifer Aniston said this one when she was talking about auditioning for a role on the soap opera in which her Dad was a regular cast member.   It’s a congruent conflation of “go behind (someone’s) back” and “go around”, both meaning to do something secretly or without your permission.  This subtle mashup required someone with the ears of a hawk and that would be none other than Mike Kovacs, a regular contributor to this website.  Thanks Mike!

 

The Captain of the aircraft carrier didn’t raise alarm bells

Posted: April 8, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
Courtney Kube uttered this one on MSNBC the other night.  It is a congruent conflation of “raise the alarm” and “ring the bell”, both meaning to warn someone.  A big thanks to that hawk-eared malaphor catcher Frank King for hearing this one!
If you liked this one, check out the book on malaphors, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, available on Amazon.  An easy read while isolating.

But what if the whole thing goes belly under?

Posted: April 6, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The speaker, who is a flight attendant, was talking to her son about possibly taking a voluntary leave of absence in light of covid-19, but fearful about the financial status of her airline company that she works for.  This is a nice congruent conflation of “going under” and “going belly up”, both referring to a business that goes bankrupt or cleases to exist.  This is a directional (“under” vs. “up”) mixup, common in the malaphor world.  A big thanks to Jody Compton for uttering this one, recognizing it as a bona fide malaphor, and sending it in.

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