Giuliani blew his lid on that
Posted: January 19, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blew his stack, expressions, flipped his lid, humor, language, Lev Parnas, malaphor, Rachel Maddow, Trump, words Leave a commentThis one was uttered by Lev Parnas, Rudy Giuliani’s assistant in the Rachel Maddow interview. Here it is:
Lev was describing Giuliani’s reaction to hearing Ukranian President Zelensky’s decision not to announce an investifation specifically mentioning Joe Biden’s name. It is a nice congruent conflation of ” “flipped his lid” and “blew his top/stack”, both meaning to become extremely angry or mad. A huge thanks to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one and sending it in.
I’m not a poor loser
Posted: January 15, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, language, malaphor, poor sport, sore loser, words Leave a commentYours truly uttered this one in a conversation about a current losing streak in trivia. It is a congruent conflation of “sore loser” and “poor sport”, both describing a person who reacts negatively in a competition. “Poor” and “sore” are similar sounding words, contributing to the mashup. A big thanks to Elaine Hatfield for calling me out on this one.
You hit it right on the point
Posted: January 13, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Andy Brenner, CNBC, expressions, hit the nail on the head, humor, malaphor, On Point, Rick Santelli, words Leave a commentThis one was uttered by Andy Brenner (National Alliance Securities) on CNBC, referring to a comment made by Rick Santelli. It is a congruent conflation of “hit the nail on the head” and “on point”. both meaning to be exactly right, accurate, or perfect. Nails have points so the mental hiccup occurred with that visual, presumably. A big thanks to big brother John Hatfield for hearing this one and sending it in. #RickSantelli #CNBC
That ought to hit the ticket
Posted: January 9, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, hit the mark, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, punch one's ticket, words Leave a commentThis was said, referring to something that should be successful. It is a congruent conflation of “hit the mark” and “punch (one’s) ticket”, both meaning an action that leads to success (the latter to a promotion usually). Hit the ticket has a nice ring to it. A big thanks to Martin Pietrucha for texting this one and realizing it was a malaphor.
I know the material off the back of my hand
Posted: January 6, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, like the back of my hand, malaphor, off the top of my head, words Leave a commentA daughter was telling her father about a recent test. This is a mashup of “know it like the back of my hand” (extremely familiar with something) and “off the top of my head” (from memory without careful consideration). Either this is a malaphor or maybe she actually had the materials written on her hand? A big thanks to John Kooser for hearing this one.
A lot of Senators have reserved their fire
Posted: January 4, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, hold your fire, humor, idioms, Jonathan Alleno, malaphor, reserve judgment, words Leave a comment
You put your finger on the nail
Posted: January 2, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, words, you hit the nail on the head, you nailed it, you put your finger on it Leave a comment2020 has started off on the right foot, malaphor wise. On New Year’s Day, Christiane Amanpour said this beauty on CNN’s “New Day”. Let’s go to the transcript:
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/2001/01/nday.04.html
It is a congruent conflation of “put your finger on it” and hit the nail on the head” (and “nailed it”), all meaning to describe a situation or problem exactly. The speaker might have been thinking of fingernails when she uttered this one. A big thanks to Ruth Dilts for nailing this one. @camanpour @NewDay
You hit it right off the park
Posted: December 27, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, hit it out of the park, humor, malaphor, malaphors, right off the bat, words Leave a commentThis was heard on a conference call. This is a nice baseball metaphor mashup of “hit it out of the park” (to do something successful or an outstanding achievement) and “right off the bat” (immediately, without delay). Now if the person had hit it right off the bat and out of the park that would be an immediate outstanding achievement, right? Or just a home run? By the way, it seems like hitting it out of the park is a favorite idiom to mashup. A few past examples for your reading pleasure are “we really nailed it out of the park” https://malaphors.com/2015/08/18/we-really-nailed-it-out-of-the-park/ and “they blew it out of the park” https://malaphors.com/2012/10/27/they-blew-it-out-of-the-park/ A big thanks to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one and sending it in right off the park to malaphor central.
Facebook is a bubble chamber
Posted: December 20, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: echo chamber, expressions, facebook, humor, language, live in a bubble, malaphor, malaphors, words 1 CommentThe “Great Malaphor Hunter”, Mike Kovacs, uttered this one at lunch the other day. He was talking about Facebook posts and how people don’t engage in actual discussions with others with opposing views. This is a nice mashup of “live in a bubble” (separated from society or sheltered) and “echo chamber” (a metaphorical description of a situation in which beliefs are amplified or reinforced by communication and repetition inside a closed system). When I heard this, I immediately thought of Get Smart and the “cone of silence”. A big thanks to Anthony Kovacs for outting his Dad, malaphorically speaking.
It’s not too late to stuff that stocking with THE book on malaphors, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, available on Amazon for a mere 7.99. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205 That’s cheaper than those Altoids you were thinking of dropping in the Christmas sock.
It’s a bunch of humbo jumbo
Posted: December 16, 2019 Filed under: WORD BLENDS | Tags: expressions, humbug, humor, language, malaphor, mumbo jumbo, Trump, words Leave a commentSomeone was referring to the Repbulicans’ defense in the Trump impeachment hearings. This is a nice word blend of “humbug” (deceptive or false talk) and “mumbo jumbo” (intended to cause confusion). Both expressions refer to misleading someone. Maybe it’s a new expression, meaning deceptive talk meant to confuse? A big thanks to John Kooser who overheard this one.
Malaphors 
Recent Comments