She did not fall far from the turnip truck
Posted: November 27, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, fell off the turnip truck, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, the apple does not fall far from the tree, words Leave a commentThis excellent mashup was overheard from a flight attendant. It is a nice malaphor reflecting “just fell off the turnip truck” (ignorant or unsophisticated) and “the apple does not fall far from the tree” (someone is displaying traits or behaving in the same way as their relatives (usually parents)). It actually might be a whole new phrase, describing someone displaying ignorance that is inherited. Incidentally, the “turnip truck” idiom seems to be often garbled. I have posted two other malaphors messing with this phrase: “Does he think I just fell from the turnip tree?” https://malaphors.com/2014/07/29/does-he-think-i-just-fell-from-the-turnip-tree/ and “I wasn’t born off the turnip truck” https://malaphors.com/2013/12/07/i-wasnt-born-off-the-turnip-truck/. I guess when things start falling they can come from anywhere and land anywhere. A big thanks to Jody Compton for hearing this one and passing it on.
Did you like this one? There are many more just like this in my book, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, available on Amazon. It makes a nice stocking stuffer!
They really swept her under the bus
Posted: November 25, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Cristin Milioti, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, swept under the rug, thrown under the bus, words Leave a commentTwo friends were talking about someone who was betrayed. It is a nice mashup of “swept under the rug” (to deny or conceal from public view knowledge of something that is embarrassing or damaging to one’s reputation) and “thrown under the bus” (to exploit someone’s trust for someone’s own purpose). “Under” is the common culprit here, in addition to the three letter words “bus” and “rug”. This seems to be the latest in the bus malaphor series. In addition to this one, I have posted such similar malaphors as “she threw me under the wolves (https://malaphors.com/2017/11/20/she-threw-me-under-the-wolves/), “Trump is not going to throw Paul Ryan over the bus” (https://malaphors.com/2017/04/05/trump-is-not-going-to-throw-paul-ryan-over-the-bus/), and “he really sold him under the bus” (https://malaphors.com/2013/05/16/he-really-sold-him-under-the-bus/), the latter a classic uttered Cristin Milioti. Not sure what’s so hard about uttering “thrown under the bus” but the phrase seems to conjure up a lot of other idioms in the brain’s recesses….A big thank you to Verbatim for hearing this and passing it on.
Our hard work is finally starting to pay fruit
Posted: November 22, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bear fruit, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, pay off, words Leave a commentThis subtle gem was overheard at a meeting. It is a congruent conflation of “pay off” and “bear fruit”, both meaning to yield positive benefits or results. Those cherries sure start to add up after working hard. A big thanks to Joel Ringer who heard this one and passed it on.
She threw me under the wolves
Posted: November 20, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, throw him to the wolves, throw him under the bus, words 1 CommentThis was uttered at a disability hearing recently. It is a nice mashup of “throw (someone) under the bus” (to exploit someone’s trust for one’s own purpose or benefit) and “throw (one) to the wolves” (to sacrifice someone to ruin, especially for another’s benefit). Both expressions contain the verb “throw” and both are similar in meaning. A big thanks to Sam Edelmann for hearing this one and sending it in.
You won’t be thrown under the wolves but be incessantly thanked if you include my book “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors” in your loved ones’ stockings this Christmas! Just check it out on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205. Forget about the toothbrush and give them a laugh or two instead!
We laid it all on the field
Posted: November 18, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Chip and Joanna Gaines, expressions, Fixer Upper, humor, laid it on the line, language, left it all on the field, Magnolia Market, malaphor, malaphors, words Leave a commentThis one was found on the “Fixer Upper” blog called Magnolia market, courtesy of Chip and Joanna Gaines. Here’s the site with the malaphor:
https://magnoliamarket.com/our-last-season/
This is a nice combo of “laid it on the line” (made something very clear) and “left it all on the field” (to commit wholly to something). Left and laid all the culprits here, I suspect. Also there are lines on most sports fields so that might have contributed to this mental hiccup. A big thanks to Jean Welch for spotting this one!
Anybody worth their weight in salt
Posted: November 16, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: All Things Considered, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, NPR, words, worth one's salt, worth one's weight in gold 2 CommentsThis beauty was uttered on NPR’s All Things Considered yesterday. The discussion centered around sexual harassment, and what Human Resources divisions should do about it. The speaker said, “Anybody worth their weight in salt would take allegations of sexual harassment seriously”. This is a mashup of “worth one’s weight in gold” (very valuable, useful, or important) and “worth one’s salt” (deserving respect, especially because you do your job well). This malaphor is a great one as the two expressions are very similar in sound and in meaning. The word “weight” is the only distinguishing factor. Regarding the salt idiom, it is believed that it refers to the fact that in Roman times soldiers were given an allowance of salt as part of their pay. The Latin word salarium (= the money given to Roman soldiers to buy salt) is the origin of the word ‘salary’. A big thanks to loyal malaphor follower Paul Nance for hearing this one and sharing it.
Throw another kink in the wrench
Posted: November 1, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, iron out the kinks, language, malaphor, malaphors, throw a wrench into the works, words Leave a commentThis hodgepodge was referring to trying to schedule employees for their time off. It is a mashup of “throw a (monkey) wrench into the works” (disrupt or foil a plan) and “iron out the kinks” (fixing small problems that are present in a project). The idiom “throw a monkey wrench into the works” seems to be a difficult one for many to say correctly. It has been the subject of prior malaphors, e.g., “a wrench had been thrown in the bucket” https://malaphors.com/2016/10/04/a-wrench-had-been-thrown-into-the-bucket/ and “he really threw a monkey wrench into that fire” https://malaphors.com/2013/02/08/he-really-threw-a-monkey-wrench-into-that-fire/. Not sure why, but my guess it’s a rather archaic saying. A big thanks to Dori Shand Riley for hearing this one!
It’s like putting the wolf in charge of the hen house
Posted: October 30, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Chuck Schumer, expressions, humor, idioms, language, malaphor, malaphors, the fox guarding the hen house, Tom Marino, Trump, wolf in sheep's clothing, words Leave a commentThis was uttered by Chuck Schumer when discussing Trump’s nominee, Tom Marino, as Drug Czar. Schumer said Marino’s confirmation would be “like putting the wolf in charge of the hen house”. https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2017/10/17/Drug-czar-nominee-Marino-withdraws-from-consideration-Trump-says/9001508246201/
This is a mashup of “the fox guarding the hen house” (assigning the duty of guarding valuable information or resources to someone who is likely to exploit that opportunity) and “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” (a person or thing that appears harmless but is actually dangerous). Now certainly you wouldn’t want a wolf in charge of the hen house either, but the correct idiom only indicts the fox. A big thanks to Steve Grieme for catching this one and sending it on.
That’s nothing to sneeze home about
Posted: October 29, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, nothing to sneeze at, nothing to write home about, words 2 CommentsHere’s the background for this one: “I was playing a board game with my friend Edil (unsure what game) a couple of days ago. Something significant happened in the game that took me and him by surprise. We both said, simultaneously, “Well, that’s nothing to sneeze home about”. Neither of us had ever used that phrase before, and we looked at each other in utter amazement.” Not sure what you call a malaphor that two speak at once. Must be like seeing a double rainbow. Remarkable. This is a nice mashup of “nothing to sneeze at” (not something that should be ignored) and “nothing to write home about” (not especially remarkable or noteworthy). I think the common word “nothing” must have set off this nice malaphor by TWO PEOPLE AT THE SAME TIME! A big thank you to Miiko Valkonen for hearing, saying, and sharing this one.
They pledged to pull out all the steps
Posted: October 27, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, pull out all the stops, take steps, thehill.com, words Leave a commentThis one comes from the website thehill.com. Here’s the quote: “Environmentalist[s] and Democrats have pledged to pull out all the steps to save the Clean Power Plan, which they say is the most significant U.S. policy to reduce carbon emissions that has ever been put into place.” http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/354531-epa-to-begin-repealing-obamas-landmark-climate-rule-tuesday
This is a mashup of “pull out all the stops” (use all the resources at one’s disposal) and “take steps” (take the necessary action to achieve something). Obviously steps and stops are confused here. So if the steps are pulled out will the Republican efforts to repeal this policy slide down and disappear? A big thanks to Barry Eigen, Senior Malaphor Hunter, for spotting this one and sending it in.
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