Tie the tea leaves together
Posted: March 5, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, Here and Now, humor, language, malaphor, Mueller, NPR, read the tea leaves, tie it all together, Trump, words Leave a comment.This was heard on NPR’s “Here and Now” show. A pundit was talking about trying to predict what the Mueller investigation report will be like, based on all the information that has been released so far. It is a mashup of “reading the tea leaves” (predicting on little bits of information) and “tie it all together” (finish it up neatly). “Tie up loose ends” (resolve some issues at the end that are not critical) might also be in the mix. Tea leaves seem to confuse folks. Previous malaphors have included “reading between the tea leaves” https://malaphors.com/2017/03/27/reading-between-the-tea-leaves/ and “read between the tea lines” https://malaphors.com/2019/01/24/i-wish-i-could-read-between-the-tea-lines/. A tip of the hat to John Costello for hearing this one!
I know this is not everyone’s dish of tea
Posted: February 26, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: cup and saucer, dish it out, expressions, humor, malaphor, Morning Joe, not one's cup of tea, William Weld, words 6 CommentsWilliam Weld, former Massachusetts governor, uttered this one on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, when he introduced the topic of climate change. This is a mashup of “not one’s cup of tea” (not one’s preference) and maybe “dish it out” (to dispense something, often verbally)? Or was the speaker just thinking of “cup and saucer” and got the two confused? No one knows except Mr. Weld, and perhaps he doesn’t either. On that note, I think I’ll have a “disha”. A big thanks to two people who heard this one and sent it in almost simultaneously: David Stephens and Donna Calvert. Thanks David and Donna!
They would jump on a bullet for him
Posted: February 25, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: congruent conflation, expressions, fall on a grenade, funny, humor, idioms, malaphor, take a bullet for, Trump, words Leave a commentThis was uttered when discussing the blind loyalty of Trump supporters. It is a congruent conflation of “take a bullet for (someone)” and “falling (or jumping) on a grenade for (someone)”, both meaning to accept a personally harmful or sacrificial task to protect someone else. Jumping on a bullet doesn’t seem like a great sacrifice to me, so perhaps this speaker was not such a loyal follower. A big thanks to John Kooser for hearing this one.
The Manafort situation throws the whole incentive system on its head
Posted: February 11, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Berit Berger, Brian Williams, humor, language, malaphor, out the window, turn on its head, words Leave a commentColumbia Law School professor Berit Berger uttered this one on the MSNBC show “The 11th Hour with Brian Williams”. She was discussing the pardon system and the Manafort case. This is a mashup of “turn (something) on its head” (to alter something in an unexpected way) and “throw it out the window” (forgotten, disregarded). “Turning” and “throwing” seems to have caused the mixup here. A big thanks to Frank King for hearing this one.
My hackles were ruffled
Posted: February 6, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: congruent conflation, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, raise my hackles, ruffle my feathers, words Leave a comment
I’m worried stiff
Posted: February 4, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Chris Hayes, humor, language, malaphor, MSNBC, scared stiff, wordplay, worried sick Leave a commentHeard on the MSNBC show with Chris Hayes. This is a conflation of “scared stiff” (utterly terrified) and “worried sick” (very concerned about a person or situation). I have heard this one a lot. “Sick” and “stiff” are similar sounding words, contributing to the mashup. A big thanks to Frank King for hearing this one!
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He tends to pull things out of his head
Posted: February 3, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, Matt Miller, MSNBC, off the top of his head, out of thin air, pulled a rabbit out of his hat, words Leave a commentHeard on MSNBC by Matt Miller, a former spokesperson for the Justice Department. He was talking about Rudy Giuliani and his off the cuff (“shoots off the cuff?”) remarks in interviews. This is a triple congruent conflation of “off the top of one’s head”, “pluck (something) out of thin air”, and “pull (something) out of a hat”, all meaning a random thought. “Head” and “hat” get confused a lot and that’s what appears to have happened here. As you know, the usual thing pulled out of a hat is a rabbit. As “my ol’ pal” notes, tThe more usual metaphor nowadays is “pull things out of his ass” (making things up) which is probably closer to the meaning of what Matt Miller was trying to convey about Giuliani. For obvious reasons he probably substituted “head” for “ass” at the last second. Thus the birth of this malaphor.
My mother could dance you under the table
Posted: January 31, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: dance up a storm, drink you under the table, humor, language, malaphor, wordplay 2 CommentsThis one was heard at a retirement party for an organist/choirmaster. In recounting her history, the organist talked about how her mother had a great sense of rhythm, which she inherited. This is a mashup of “dance up a storm” (dance with intensity) and “drink you under the table” (to be able to drink more alcohol than someone else). Drinking and dancing both start with the letter “d” and both actions are often both associated together, hence the mix up.
The phrase appears in the Urban Dictionary with a decidedly different definition. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Danced%20Her%20Under%20The%20Table. A tip of the hat to Barry Eigen, who heard this one and submitted it to Malaphor Central.
Starting to make a turn back?
Posted: January 30, 2019 Filed under: WORD BLENDS | Tags: humor, language, malaphor, Trump, wordplay, words Leave a commentThis is a word blend of “”turnaround” ( a complete change in opinion or method) and “comeback” (a return to popularity). As I have noted before in previous posts, malaphors can be word blends or idiom blends. The word blend seems to be a less common phenomenon.
This is the big, 40,000 foot question
Posted: January 28, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 000 dollar question, 000 foot view, expressions, Here and Now, humor, idioms, malaphor, NPR, Roger Stone, the 10, the 64, Tim Mak, Trump, wordplay, words Leave a commentTim Mak, NPR political reporter on the NPR radio show, Here and Now, was discussing the recent indictment of Roger Stone. He was retelling what was in the indictment, but questioning what evidence Special Counsel Robert Mueller has in his possession. This gem can be heard at 5:15 of the following:
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2019/01/25/roger-stone-indicted
This is a wonderful conflation of “the 64,000 dollar question” (a question very important and/or difficult to answer) and “the 10,000 (or sometimes 20, 30, or 40,000) foot view” (a description of a problem or issue that provides general information, but short on details). Idioms containing numbers are often jumbled. I have posted some other great ones, such as “hindsight is 50/50” (https://malaphors.com/2016/12/20/hindsight-is-5050/) and “we were 3 sheets passing in the night” (https://malaphors.com/2016/10/25/we-were-3-sheets-passing-in-the-night/). A big thanks to Tom Justice for hearing this one and sending it in!
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