Leading the drum beat
Posted: July 9, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Chris Hayes, expressions, Frank King, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentThis one was heard on the podcast All In With Chris Hayes. You can hear it as the 40:14 mark:
It is a mashup of “beat the drum” (strongly advocate for) and “lead the charge” (to be one of the first to do something). A big thanks to frequent contributor Frank King, the Mental Health Comedian.
Tagphrase
Posted: July 7, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphors, WORD BLENDS, words 2 CommentsTwo brothers were talking about an old commercial, and one said “Oh yes, I remember that tagphrase.” This is a word blend congruent conflation of “catch phrase” and “tag line”, both referring to a sentence or phrase reiterated and identified with a person or company. Single word blend malaphors are unconscious blends of words to make an unintentional new word. The word sounds or looks correct at first blush, but then on closer examination is incorrect. Examples include “Buckminster Palace” (Buckingham and Westminster, and/or possibly Buckminster Fuller) and “split-minute decision” (split second and last minute). Read my book, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors“, to understand the difference between a word blend malaphor and a portmanteau.
A big thanks to Martin Pietrucha for unintentionally uttering this one and promptly sending it in!
I need to get my blood rate up
Posted: July 2, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 1 CommentThe speaker and her husband were getting ready for their morning walk. She said, “We’ll have to walk fast so I can get my blood rate up.” This is a congruent conflation of “get my heart rate up” and “get my blood flowing”, both meaning to get active or start moving. A healthy hurrah to Beverly Rollins Sheingorn VanDerhei for saying this one and sending it in!
He let them take them over the coals
Posted: June 30, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, Fox, humor, language, malaphors, Maria Bartiromo, Trump, words Leave a commentTrump was being interviewed by Maria Bartiromo on Fox yesterday (June 29, 2025). She asked him about the tariffs on China and he responded that Biden had a trillion dollar deficit with China, adding that “he (Biden) let them (China) take them (U.S.) over the coals.” This is a mashup of “rake them over the coals” (call to task or reprimand severely) and “take them to the cleaners” (cheat one out of one’s money or possessions). “Rake” and “take” seem to have confused the speaker here. You can hear this at the :39 mark:
A shout out to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one and sending it in!
Talking to him goes in one ear and out of his ass
Posted: June 28, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 1 CommentThe speaker was exasperated with an adversary in court. She told her husband, “Well, talking to him goes in one ear and out of his ass. It’s simply useless.” This is a mashup of “in one ear and out the other” (essentially ignored or forgotten almost immediately after being heard) and “talk out (of) (one’s) ass” (to talk nonsense or exaggerate one’s achievements). The speaker must have been thinking her adversary was an “ass” when she jumbled the two phrases. A shout out to Marykathryn Kopec for unintentionally uttering this one and sharing it with us! Paints an interesting picture.
Did you like this malaphor? Check out “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors” on Amazon! https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205
He’s come off the tracks
Posted: June 20, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, Musk, Piers Morgan, Scott Galloway, words Leave a commentScott Galloway, a podcaster and professor at New York University, calmly explained that he believes Musk has “come off the tracks” when conservative host Piers Morgan asked if he accepted that Musk was a “genius.” I believe this is a rare triple conflation of “come unhinged” and “off the rails”, both meaning to behave in a way that is wild and unacceptable, and “off track”, meaning straying off the central subject. “Tracks” and “rails” are similar and add to the confusion. Here is the article:
A tip of the hat to Frank King for spotting this one and sending it in!
He just keeps his head to the grindstone
Posted: June 16, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphors, Mark Madden, mixed idioms, Paul Skenes, sports, Steve Blass, words Leave a commentRetired Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher and t.v. broadcaster Steve Blass was being interviewed by sports commentator Mark Madden last week. They were talking about superstar Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes and about what he must think about never getting run support. Blass said “he just keeps his head to the grindstone”. This is a mashup of “keep your nose to the grindstone” (work hard and constantly) and “keep your head in the game” (stay focused and concentrate). “Keep your head down” (avoid trouble or attention) might also be in the mix as Blass was referring to Skenes’ ability to block out any exterior factors and just focus on the game. It seems that various body parts get mixed up when thinking about the idiom “keep your nose to the grindstone”. I have previously posted “keep an ear to the grindstone” and “put your shoulder to the grindstone”. https://malaphors.com/2012/12/01/keep-an-ear-to-the-grindstone/ https://malaphors.com/2012/07/20/put-your-shoulder-to-the-grindstone/
A big thank you to Mike Ameel for hearing this one and sending it in!
He was never the sharpest bulb
Posted: June 11, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Biden, blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, Trump, words Leave a commentDonald Trump appeared to get a little confused on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, as he attempted to lob an insult at his predecessor during a speech at Fort Bragg. “I’ve known this guy for a long time”, Trump said of former President Joe Biden. “He was never the sharpest bulb”. https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-says-joe-biden-was-never-the-sharpest-bulb/
This is a congruent conflation of “not the sharpest tool in the shed” and “not the brightest bulb in the pack”, both describing a slow-witted or dull person. While I have posted this one previously (and numerous variations), I thought that given the source and the context I would be remiss if I did not include this great one in the Malaphor library. Shout outs to Peter H, Karl Robins, and Buzz McClain for spotting this one and sending it in!
He’s thick minded
Posted: June 6, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, Marc maron, words, WTF with Marc Maron 1 CommentMarc Maron said this one on his podcast, WTF with Marc Maron. I believe this is a conflation of “closed- minded” (not willing to consider different ideas or opinions) and “thick-skinned” (insensitive to criticism or insults). Both idioms describe someone who is intolerant of others or things. “Thick as a brick” and “thick headed” (stupid, slow to learn or understand) might also be in the mix, as narrow minded people tend to be the most thick headed. Kudos to regular malaphor contributor Anthony Kovacs for hearing this one and sending it in!
Tricks of the game
Posted: June 4, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, words Leave a commentNew project management software was recently implemented, and it was difficult to understand. One colleague said he was having great success once he started using it, and that one just has to learn “the tricks of the game”. Meaning, one will have better success once one understands all features and shortcuts the software offers. This is a nice conflation of “rules of the game” (general standards, guidelines, or governing principles of how something is done) and “tricks of the trade” (certain clever techniques used to do something more easily or efficiently). Perhaps the speaker was thinking of taking tricks in a card game. A big thanks to Verbatim for reporting this one to Malaphor Central!
Malaphors 
Recent Comments