A bigger piece of the pot
Posted: March 31, 2014 Filed under: FOOD, pie | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, piece of the pie, sweeten the pot, words Leave a commentI think this is a mash up of “bigger piece of the pie” (share of something) and “sweeten the pot” (make something more desirable). Pie and pot are three letter words starting with p, increasing the confusion. Also in poker the pot is the collection of money to be won, often being divided in card games so that one may get a “share” of the pot. Thanks to Martin Pietrucha who heard this in a presentation.
He really blew the boat
Posted: March 28, 2014 Filed under: boat, THINGS | Tags: blended idioms, blew his chance, congruent conflation, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, missed the boat, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentThe speaker was referring to someone who had missed a big opportunity. This is a congruent conflation of “missed the boat” and “blew his chance”, both meaning to miss an opportunity. For some reason, “flew the coop” also comes to mind because of the rhyming of “flew” and “blew”. Nothing else comes to mind. A big shout out to Naomi David for sending this one in!
I’m shooting from the cuff
Posted: March 21, 2014 Filed under: ACTION, CLOTHING, cuff, shoot | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, New York Knicks, off the cuff, Phil Jackson, shoot from the hip, words 1 CommentThis is a wonderful malaphor involving the phrases “off- the- cuff” (speak spontaneously without rehearsal) and “shooting from the hip” (speaking frankly). Phil Jackson, in deciding to take over the New York Knicks, uttered this malaphor at the beginning of his acceptance speech. Click on the link below and then click on the video in the link.. He says, in the opening sentence, that “I’m shooting from the cuff.” Thanks to Martin Pietrucha for hearing this one and passing it on!
Phil Jackson shook hands with New York Knicks owner James Dolan, walked gingerly to the podium and comfortably lifted the microphones to fit his 6-foot-8 frame.
“I don’t have prepared remarks, as you can see,” Jackson said, practically bragging. “I’m shooting from the cuff.”
That’s just peachy-dory!
Posted: March 16, 2014 Filed under: WORD BLENDS | Tags: confruent conflation, expressions, humor, hunky-dory, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, peachy keen, WORD BLENDS, words 1 CommentThis is a mash up of the expressions peachy keen and hunky-dory, both meaning fine or satisfactory. This seems to be a fairly common malaphor, based on internet hits. Now hunky keen is a different matter….Thanks to Char Stone for sending this one in!
Don’t get caught with the hot potato when it goes off
Posted: March 14, 2014 Filed under: grenade, potato | Tags: expressions, grenade, hot potato, humor, language, live grenade, malaphor, malaphors, potato, words 3 CommentsThis crazy mess was heard on a conference call. It is a mash up of “hot potato” and “playing with a live grenade”, both describing something dangerous or difficult to deal with. The speaker was urging people to move problems along. The speaker may have also been thinking of the German hand grenade called the potato masher. The Model 24 Stielhandgranate was the standard hand grenade of the German Army from the end of World War I until the end of World War II. The very distinctive appearance led to its being called a “stick grenade”, or a “potato masher” in British Army slang. Thank you to Yvonne Stam for hearing this one and passing it along, so to speak….
Our salt supplies are deplenished
Posted: March 4, 2014 Filed under: WORD BLENDS | Tags: depleted, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, malphor, mixed idioms, replenish, WORD BLENDS, words Leave a commentThis is a word blend of “depleted” (to use up or empty out) and “replenish” (to fill up). Since REplenish means to fill again, then it is reasonable to assume DEplenish would mean the opposite. I heard this one on the Pittsburgh CW 10:00 news, in a discussion of salt supplies in Cleveland. Although malaphors are generally mixed phrases or idioms, they can appear as mixed words or word blends as well. See my other word blends in the category list under Word Blends.
It’s music to my eyes
Posted: February 28, 2014 Filed under: BODY PARTS, ear, eye | Tags: ears, expressions, eyes, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, music to my ears, sight for sore eyes, words 4 CommentsThe exact quote is “any fine gold in there would be music to my eyes”, recently heard on the show “Gold Rush” last Sunday. Given the context, the mash up is “music to my ears” (make someone happy) and “a sight for sore eyes” (a welcome sight), both describing the speaker’s emotions. As we have learned, mixing body parts is common in malaphors. A big shout out to Michael Ameel for hearing (and seeing) this one!
That really took the starch out of my sails
Posted: February 25, 2014 Filed under: sails, starch, THINGS | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, knocked the starch out of me, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, take the wind out of my sails, words Leave a commentThis is a conflation of several phrases. The speaker was talking about his near death experience while cycling, so “it knocked the starch out of me” (to be beat up severely) may be in the mix, but I think the better phrase is “it took the starch out of me” (it made me tired or weak) as he was scared. The other phrase is probably “it knocked the wind out of my sails” (heavy blow to the body) rather than “taking the wind out of my sails” (challenging someone’s boasting or arrogance). A big shout out to Tom Justice for sending this one in!
Put the metal on the gas
Posted: February 22, 2014 Filed under: pedal | Tags: blended idioms, congruent conflation, expressions, gas, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, pedal, pedal to the metal, step on the gas, words 2 CommentsThis is a congruent conflation of “put the pedal to the metal” and “step on the gas”, both meaning to speed up. I heard this one on a tv sports show uttered by Wally Szczerbiak. He was discussing at halftime that the team behind needed to step it up.
That will bring some skeletons crawling out of the woodwork
Posted: February 17, 2014 Filed under: closet, crawl, woodwork | Tags: blended idioms, closet, crawling out of the woodwork, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, skeletons, skeletons in the closet, woodwork, words 1 CommentThis is a delightful mixture of “skeletons in the closet” (secrets) and “crawling out of the woodwork” (secrets coming out in the open). The confusion lies in the two phrases referring to secrets and exposing them. I heard this in a conversation but I cannot reveal the source as I was sworn to secrecy. We can’t have these malaphors crawling out of the woodwork, can we?
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