This office is a test child for relocations
Posted: May 26, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, poster child, test case, words Leave a commentI heard this one today on the phone with a colleague. Her office was the first of several offices moving to a new location. People were anxious, and there was much scruitny placed on the move. The mash up of “poster child” (someone who is the classic example of a type of person) and “test case” (first to have something done to) therefore works perfectly in context, as she was really referring to the office as the first and the blueprint for subsequent moves. A big pat on the back to me for hearing this one!
Finding a doctor on the weekend is kind of touch or miss
Posted: May 22, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, hit or miss, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, touch and go, words Leave a commentThis perfectly formed malaphor was uttered by a hospital nurse. It is a mash up of “hit or miss” (at random, haphazardly) and “touch and go” (chancy). Touching is just a mild form of hitting so I can see where the speaker became confused. The two phrases also describe a thing likely not to occur. Thanks to Deb Mande for hearing this one and sending it in!
We’ll be laughed out of the water
Posted: May 20, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blown out of the water, expressions, humor, language, laughed out of court, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentAt a meeting last week, Beehive Crick, a malaphor follower, overheard this gem uttered by a client who was worried. It is a mash up of “laugh out of court” (dismiss something presented in earnest as ridiculous) and “blow (something) out of the water” (to destroy something, such as a plan). Interestingly, this seems to be a common malaphor based on the number of entries on the internet using this mixed idiom. Thank you Beehive!
You better watch your P’s and cross your T’s
Posted: May 18, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: congruent conflations, dot your i's and cross your t's, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mind your p's and q's, words Leave a commentExcellent advice given by that legal malaphor utterer, Marykathryn Kopec. She said this to her husband, warning him about submitting a Motion to a particularly picky Judge. It is a congruent conflation of “mind/watch your P’s and Q’s” and “dot your I’s and cross your T’s”, both meaning to pay careful attention to small details. This mash-up has a nice rhyming ring to it. Thanks to Marykathryn for this one!
It could happen at the drop of a pin
Posted: May 16, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: could hear a pin drop, drop of a hat, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, words Leave a commentThis malaphor was heard on the local Pittsburgh PBS show, “On Essential Pittsburgh”. It is a mash up of “at the drop of a hat” (immediately) and “(so quiet that) you could hear a pin drop” (extremely quiet). Drop is the shared word and the probably cause of the confusion. Kudos to Sally Adler for hearing this one and sending it in!
This clearly tops the cake
Posted: May 9, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, over the top, takes the cake, words Leave a commentThis beauty was spotted by Mike Browning in a local news channel website. The Virginia Delegate Mark Keam was discussing predatory towing and uttered this malaphor. It is a mash up of “it takes the cake” (extreme example, usually bad) and “over the top” (extremely overdone). A cake topping also comes to mind. Here is the link to the quote: http://www.wjla.com/articles/2015/04/predatory-towing-in-the-dmv-gone-in-60-seconds-113447.html. Thanks Mike for this one!
I was dead to the wind
Posted: May 6, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: dead to the world, expressions, gone with the wind, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentSteve Grieme, a frequent contributor to this blog, heard this one from his very exhausted wife after a late night dinner and early wake-up. It is a mash up of “dead to the world” (sound asleep) and “gone with the wind (disappeared or gone forever). Both expressions indicate a completeness. Isn’t dead to the wind a nautical term? A big thanks as always to Steve for keeping his ear to the grindstone for malaphors!
I’m not one to wave the drum for feminism too often
Posted: May 4, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: beat the drum, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, wave the flag, words Leave a commentIn the course of discussing workplace politics, the speaker uttered this gem. It is a perfect congruent conflation of “wave the flag” and “beat the drum”, both meaning to promote or support someone or something. Question for the day: if a drum is waved, will anyone hear it? A tip of the hat to Laura for sending this one in!
I worked my butt to the bone
Posted: May 1, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, Judge Judy, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words, worked my butt off, worked my fingers to the bone 2 CommentsI’ve heard “bad to the bone”, but “butt to the bone”? This hilarious, alliterative malaphor was uttered on a radio commercial promo for an upcoming Judge Judy show. It is a congruent conflation of “worked my butt off” and “worked my fingers to the bone”, both meaning to work extremely hard. Perhaps this should now be an expression used by workout trainers. A big thank you to Steve Grieme who heard this one and passed it on!
I know that area like the back of my neck
Posted: April 28, 2015 Filed under: BODY PARTS, hand, neck | Tags: back of my hand, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, neck of the woods, words 1 CommentIn context, this seems to be a mash up of “(to know something) like the back of my hand” (to know a place very well) and “neck of the woods” (a region or locale in the country). The speaker was going to a party north of the city. When someone asked him if he knew how to get where it was being held, he said “Well, I know that area like the back of my neck”. Interesting thing is that he had never been in the area, but he had GPS. Of course, he might have been thinking that it was a “pain in the neck” to visit an area unfamiliar to him, or that neck and back are similar looking and sounding words, but who knows what lurks in the mind? Body parts, particularly the hands, are for some reason the source of many malaphors. I have posted several, including “I don’t know it off the top of my hand”, “I have it on the tip of my hand”, and the ever popular “we’ve got our hands cut out for us”. A big thanks to Joseph Newcomer for sending this one in!
Malaphors 
Recent Comments