It sent shivers up my skin
Posted: September 4, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: congruent conflation, humor, language, makes my skin crawl, malaphors, send shivers up my spine, word play, words Leave a commentThe submitter was out with some friends for dinner when this was suddenly uttered. An instant malaphor alert went off. This is a nice, alliterative congruent conflation (best kind of malaphor, imho) of “send shivers up (one’s) spine” and “makes (one’s) skin crawl”, both meaning to cause to feel frightened or unnerved. Spine and skin are mixed here, and the visual of shivers crawling. Certainly your skin shivers when you’re cold, so the mixup is quite expected. A big thank you to Steve Grieme for hearing this one and passing it on!
I want to get the elephant out of the room
Posted: September 3, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: books, elephant, elephant in the room, humor, language, malaphors, out in the open, words Leave a comment
lumps in the ointment
Posted: September 2, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Don McGahn, expressions, fly in the ointment, humor, lumps in the gravy, malaphor, Rachel Maddow, Trump, words Leave a commentRachel Maddow said this one when she was describing Don McGahn’s cooperation with the Special Counsel in an effort to avoid John Dean’s fate. Basically she was saying that McGahn was not the apparent hero he seems because of his apparently selfless cooperation, and that there were a few “lumps in the ointment.” This is a mashup of “lumps in the gravy” (problems or stumbling blocks) and “fly in the ointment” (flaw that detracts from something positive) l up of Lumps in the gravy, flies in the ointment. “Take (one’s) lumps” (to accept the punishment one deserves) might also be in the mix (or should I say gravy?). And then again, maybe Rachel was thinking of Frank Zappa…..
A big thanks to “my ol’ pal” Beatrice Zablocki for hearing this one and sending it in!
The last thing we need to do is monkey this up
Posted: August 29, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Andrew Gillum, humor, language, malaphor, monkey around, muck up, Ron DeSantis, words 2 CommentsRon DeSantis, the Republican candidate for governor of Florida, uttered this one on Fox when asked about his Democrat opponent, Andrew Gillum: “The last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting the state.” https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/29/politics/ron-desantis-andrew-gillum-attack/index.html
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/29/ron-desantis-andrew-gillum-monkey-florida-elections-801685
Putting aside the controversy swirling around this utterance, I believe it is a malaphor, as the phrase “monkey this up” does not exist. Instead, it is a mash up of “monkey around” (waste time or procrastinate) and “muck (it) up” (to ruin or mess something up). Muck and monkey have similar sounds, perhaps contributing to this mix up. A partial shout out to Mike Kovacs who deconstructed this with me today. @RepDeSantis @AndrewGillum
He can drink anybody under the bus
Posted: August 29, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: drink someone under the table, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, throw him under the bus, words Leave a commentThis was overheard at the Hillstone Restaurant, Winter Park FL. A very drunk lady was talking to her friend. It is a mashup of “drink someone under the table” (to drink more alcohol than someone else) and “throw (someone) under the bus” (to exploit someone’s trust for one’s own purpose). My guess is that the speaker was thinking of a bus boy, someone who cleans tables at a restaurant. This is the connection between bus and table. Also, “under” is in both expressions, no doubt contributing to the mental mix up. A big thanks to Tom Justice for hearing this one and sending it in!
If you liked this beauty you’ll love my book on malaphors, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other malaphors”, available on Amazon. On sale right now for $6.99!! https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205
They don’t want to count their chickens before they roost
Posted: August 27, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: chickens, expressions idioms, hatch, humor, Katie Tur, language, malaphor, MSNBC, roost, Trump, words, Zerlina Maxwell 1 CommentZerlina Maxwell on MSNBC’s “Live with Katie Tur” uttered this beauty when she was talking about Democrats avoiding calls for impeaching Trump. This is a barnyard mashup of “don’t count your chickens before they hatch” (don’t make future plans before they happen) and “chickens come home to roost” (you have to face the consequences of your mistakes). “Chickens” of course are the culprit here, contributing to the mental yolk. These fowl phrases seem to get mixed up a lot – see “Never count your eggs before they hatch (July 9, 2012 post) , and “Might the roosters be guarding the henhouse?” (August 2, 2014 post). I was eggcited when several people laid this one on me. First was the ubiquitous Mike Kovacs, followed quickly by James Kozlowski and Bob Maxwell. Malaphor spotters are everywhere it seems.
The fish stinks from the head
Posted: August 26, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Barbara Boxer, Chris Hayes, expressions, humor, idioms, malaphor, MSNBC, stinks to high heaven, the fish rots from the head down, Trump, words 3 CommentsSenator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) uttered this on the Chris Hayes show (Ali Velshi filling in) the other night, referring to Trump. She said, “The Italians have an expression ‘the fish stinks from the head’.” Well, actually, the expression is “the fish rots from the head down”, meaning bad leaders damage an organization, and her comment mixes the idiom “stink to high heaven”, meaning to be or seem extremely corrupt or disreputable. Rotting sure gives off a stink so it is understandable that the speaker got confused. Another big thank you to Frank King, our MSNBC Malaphor Reporter.
My anxiety is out of the roof
Posted: August 24, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, malaphor, malaphors, out of this world, through the roof, words Leave a commentThis was overheard in a disability hearing. It is a nice mashup of “through the roof” (to rise to a very high level) and “out of this world” (extraordinary). The word “roof” seems to be the cause of a lot of idiom jumbles. Check out other “roof malaphors” in the search engine. One I vividly recall is “the shit hit the roof”. https://malaphors.com/2014/09/20/the-shit-hit-the-roof/. A big thanks to Sam Edelmann for sharing this one.
If you liked this one, you’ll love my book on malaphors, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, available on Amazon. It’s out of the roof!
Stormy McDaniels
Posted: August 23, 2018 Filed under: WORD BLENDS | Tags: humor, Karen McDougal, Larry Noble, malaphor, PBS Newshour, portmanteau, Stormy Daniels, Trump, words 2 CommentsLarry Noble, a campaign finance expert and former general counsel for the Federal Election Commission, uttered this word blend on the PBS News Hour last night. It is a mash up of Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, the two women who alleged to have affairs with Donald Trump before the 2016 election. Malaphors can be word blends as well as idiom blends, such as this one or Buckminster Palace, a blend of Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace (with perhaps a dash of Buckminster Fuller).
President Donald Trump listens as Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
They would throw him to the fishes
Posted: August 20, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Don McGahn, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, MSNBC, Steve Cohen, swimming with the fishes, thrown to the wolves, Trump, words Leave a commentRepresentative Steve Cohen (D – TN) was talking on MSNBC about the New York Times report that White House counsel Don McGahn has been cooperating with the Mueller investigation team for the past year. Cohen was speculating that McGahn felt at risk of Trump using him as a fall guy in the obstruction of justice probe, and so uttered this beauty. It is a mashup of “thrown to the wolves” (to sacrifice someone in order to protect others) and “swimming (or sleeping) with the fishes” (a gangster cliche meaning to be murdered). Both idioms refer to a person who gets hurt; hence, the mix up. Cohen may also have been thinking about the mafia way of doing business and the White House way of doing business. A big thanks to chief malaphor hunter Mike Kovacs for hearing this one and sending it in.
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