Worked hand in arm with the Russians
Posted: June 6, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: arm in arm, expressions, hand in glove, humor, Lawrence Tribe, malaphor, MSNBC, Trump, words 1 CommentThis one was spoken by Constitutional Law expert Lawrence Tribe on MSNBC’s Chris Hayes show. He was discussing the issue of collusion. This is a nice mashup of “arm in arm” (closely allied or intimate) and “hand in glove” (suiting one another naturally). Hands and arms pop up frequently in malaphors. In fact, the misuse of body parts in expression seems to be one of the most common elements in malaphors. A big thanks to Frank King for spotting this one.
A chill ran through my blood
Posted: June 4, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: a chill ran down my spine, Evil Genius, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, my blood ran cold, Netflix, words Leave a commentIn the Netflix series, “Evil Genius”, courtroom artist Kevin John uttered this malaphor when the defendant in the infamous Pizza Bomber case walked into the courtroom. It is a congruent conflation of “a chill (or shiver) ran down my spine” and “my blood ran cold”, both describing a sensation of fear or dread. “Ran” is in both expressions, probably contributing to the mental hiccup. Also “cold” and “chill” are similar meaning and sounding words. A tip of the toque to Mike Kovacs, aka “The Malaphor Hunter”.
He should jump to the chase
Posted: June 2, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Ari Melber, cut to the chase, expressions, humor, jump at the chance, malaphor, malaphors, MSNBC, Randy Credico, Trump, words 2 CommentsRandy Credico uttered this one on MSNBC’s The Beat with Ari Melber the other night. Credico was talking about encouraging Adam Schiff to take the opportunity to meet with Julian Assange, saying “he should jump to the chase…” This is a mashup of “cut to the chase” (abandon the preliminaries and focus on what is important) and “jump at the chance” (seize the opportunity). Similar looking and sounding words “Chance” and “chase” probably were the culprits in this jumble. A big thanks to “Hawkear” Frank King for sharing this one.
If you haven’t already, you need to jump to the chase to buy my malaphor book, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, available on Amazon for a mere $6.99. Let’s get to the chase and buy it!
There’s a smoke trail
Posted: June 1, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, Mark Teixeira, paper trail, Robinson Cano, smoking gun, words 1 CommentThis malaphor was uttered by Mark Teixeira, discussing Robinson Cano’s suspension for violating MLB drug rules:
“Robbie Cano’s assistant was on the list for Biogenesis,” Teixeira said. “Of course he had his assistant buy stuff for him. Alex Rodriguez got popped by Biogenesis and Melky got popped. They’re his best friends. When someone gets lumped into that group, it’s because there’s evidence, there’s a paper trail, there’s a smoke trail. …
This is a mash up of “paper trail” (written evidence of someone’s activities) and “smoking gun” (indisputably incriminating evidence). The speaker might also have been thinking about contrails, which are essentially smoke trails from airplanes. A big thanks to John Costello for spotting this one!
Good Magic. Tip my hand to him
Posted: May 29, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Bob Baffert, expressions, humor, malaphor, malaphors, Preakness, show my hand, tip my hat, words Leave a commentThis was uttered by Justify’s trainer, Bob Baffert, at the 2018 Preakness. It is a mashup of “tip my hat” (to give one credit) and “show my hand” (to make one’s plans known to others). A big thanks to John Polk. John by the way has a great twitter account called @ClichesGoneWild. If you enjoy wordplay, you will love his posts.
It definitely has my radar up
Posted: May 24, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: have my antennae up, humor, language, malaphor, Mika Brzezinski, Morning Joe, on my radar, Trump, words expressions Leave a commentThis was heard on Morning Joe on May 17, uttered by Mika Brzezinski discussing the missing SARS reports and Ronan Farrow’s story. It is a nice mashup of “on my radar (screen)” (considered important) and “has my antenna up” (curiosity or interest). “Have my back (or dander) up” (get someone angry) might also be in the mix, but I doubt it considering the context (although the whole Cohen affair might be ticking her off). A big thanks to that Malaphor Extraordinaire, Frank King, for hearing this one. He certainly has the ears of a hawk.
He broke the scoop
Posted: May 21, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: break the story, expressions, get the scoop, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, Rachel Maddow, Trump, words Leave a commentRachel Maddow uttered this malaphor the other night, talking about Ronan Farrow’s latest scoop. It is a mashup of “get the scoop” (get the news) and “break the story” (the first to address an issue, usually news). Since “the scoop” is usually the news, this fractured saying makes some sense. It also has a little assonance to it, so to speak. Another thank you to Frank King for sharing this one.
He’s bald as a bat
Posted: May 19, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bald as a coot, blind as a bat, humor, idioms, malaphor, words Leave a commentA work colleague was attempting to describe why a helmet might feel uncomfortable for a customer, saying “Admittedly he’s bald as a bat. This is a nice mashup of “bald as a coot (or cue ball)” (completely bald) and “blind as a bat” (having poor vision). I like the alliteration here but bats indeed have hair. Coots are not bald either. Coots have prominent frontal shields or other decoration on the forehead, with red to dark red eyes and coloured bills. Many, but not all, have white on the under tail. The featherless shield gave rise to the expression “as bald as a coot,” which the Oxford English Dictionary cites in use as early as 1430. A shout out to Gibbon for hearing this one and sending it in.
Enjoyed this malaphor? Then you would love my book “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, available on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205
The buck stops at the top
Posted: May 18, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, Ginger Gibson, Hardball, humor, malaphor, malaphors, MSNBC, the buck stops here, Trump, words Leave a comment
The fish rots from the top
Posted: May 17, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: a fish rots from the head down, Chris Matthews, expressions, humor, malaphor, malaphors, top of the ladder, Trump, words Leave a comment‘The (new) Master” has spoken yet again. Chris Matthews uttered this mashup as he was discussing the Trump staffer who said about McCain, “he’s dying anyway”. This is a mix of the idioms “a fish rots from the head down” (when an organization fails, the chief executive is the root cause) and “top of the ladder (or food chain)” (the position of most importance). The “head” is certainly at the “top” of a person, which could have cause Mr. Matthew’s mental hiccup. This is one of many from his lips, so please loyal followers, watch Mr. Matthews with baited ears. A big thanks to Frank King for hearing this Matthewism and sending it in.
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