She’s making money left and hand
Posted: January 26, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, left and right, making money hand over fist, malaphor, malaphors, words Leave a commentThis was overheard in a conversation. It is a mash up of “left and right” (everywhere) and “hand over fist” (for money to be exchanged very rapidly). Seems like the left brain might not know what the right brain is doing. A shout out to Sam Edelmann for hearing this one and passing it on!
To say Joe is excited is an under exaggeration
Posted: January 23, 2017 Filed under: WORD BLENDS | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, over exaggeration, overstatement, understatement, words, Yukon Men Leave a commentOn the Discovery Channel’s Yukon Men, Stan describes the excitement of son, Joey, about goose hunting: “To say Joe is excited is an under-exaggeration.” This is a nice word blend malaphor of “understatement”, “overstatement’, and “over exaggeration”. The latter is frowned on by some linguists as being redundant, but my research indicates it is a legitimate idiom, meaning wildly or excessively exaggerating. The recent kerfuffle on the audience numbers at the recent US inauguration is perhaps a good example. A big thanks to Nate Brogin for hearing this one and sending it in!
He would have been driven out of this town on a stake
Posted: January 17, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: burn someone at the stake, Donald Trump, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, run out of town on a rail, Sean Spicer, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, words 2 CommentsOh my. This beauty was uttered by Sean Spicer, President-Elect Trump’s Press Secretary, talking on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Here is the context:
“If my boss at the time, Reince Priebus, had gotten the debate questions, and handed them off, he would have been driven out of this town on a stake, and Donald Trump would have been vilified.” http://64.147.104.30/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/312361-spicer-questions-if-clinton-should-be-punished-for-receiving
This is a mash up of “run out of town on a rail” (punish someone by public condemnation or ridicule) and “burn someone at the stake” (to chastise or denounce someone severely). “Head on a stake” might also be in the mix.
In case the Donald is reading, he should check out my “Politics” section on my website and in my book, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors” (available on Amazon!). He will find malaphors uttered not only by himself but by other politicians, including Obama, McCain, and the unforgettable Herman Cain. @realDonaldTrump
I received this malaphor from two people at virtually the same time, a first on this website. So kudos to John Pekich and Mike Kovacs for hearing this one on the Sunday talk news shows and sending it to yours truly!
We really knocked it over the top this year!
Posted: January 17, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, knock it out of the park, language, malaphor, malaphors, over the top, words Leave a commentA speaker at a company conference was praising the company’s performance for the year. This is a nice mash up of “knock it out of the park” (do something successfully or an outstanding achievement) and “over the top” (having gained more than one’s goal). The phrase “knock it out of the park” seems to be a frequent source of malaphors. I have previously posted such gems as “we really nailed it out of the park” https://malaphors.com/2015/08/18/we-really-nailed-it-out-of-the-park/, “they blew it out of the park” https://malaphors.com/2012/10/27/they-blew-it-out-of-the-park/, and “I need to knock it out of the box” https://malaphors.com/2014/07/21/i-need-to-knock-it-out-of-the-box/. A big thanks to Rachel for hearing this one and passing it on!
They’re willing to go to the ends of the moon for you guys
Posted: January 10, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, go to the ends of the earth, humor, love you to the moon and back, malaphor, malaphors, words 1 CommentThis was overheard on a conference call. It is a nice mash up of “go to the ends of the earth” (pursue to the utmost limit) and I think “love you to the moon and back” (love you forever). “Promise the moon (to someone)” (to make extravagant promises) and “ask for the moon” (make outlandish request for something) might also be in the mix. Of course, the speaker might have said this literally, upping the ante on performing a task. Going to the ends of the earth is not enough. Kudos to Anthony Kovacs for hearing this one and sending it in to Malaphor Central.
You don’t need to go to the ends of the moon to get the book on malaphors. Just click to Amazon and type in the title, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors“, and you can get this cheap but amusing book today!
Nobody in the audience even blinched
Posted: January 5, 2017 Filed under: WORD BLENDS | Tags: blinked, expressions, flinched, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, words 4 CommentsThis nice word blend of “blinked” and “flinched” was uttered in a unique conversation. My friend Martin Pietrucha, who contributed the 2016 malaphor of the year (MOTY) “give them a round of hand”, was telling his mother-in-law about his MOTY award, and said that after the guy made the “round of hand” remark nobody in the audience, besides Martin, even “blinched”. Not sure what a malaphor about a malaphor is called. It’s almost like seeing a double rainbow. Any ideas out there? Anyway, a big round of hand to Martin Pietrucha for blurting this one out.
Welcome to my shoes
Posted: January 2, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, I'd walk a mile in his shoes, language, malaphor, malaphors, welcome to my world, words Leave a commentI am starting 2017 with a bang with one of the best malaphors ever uttered. It appeared in an article in the Atlantic entitled, “If not Obamacare, Then What?” and contains interviews with Trump voters in rural Pennsylvania. One person who owns a hair salon was complaining of the rise in premiums on Pennsylvania’s Obamacare exchange. Frustrated with escalating premiums and deductibles, she said this malaphor. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/12/if-not-obamacare-then-what/511130/?utm_source=fbb
It is a congruent conflation of “welcome to my world” and “walk a mile in (someone’s) shoes”, both meaning to consider another person’s perspective or experiences. Kudos to Steve Kovacs who spotted this one and passed it on! An assist to Mike Kovacs for posting the article on Facebook where his brother promptly identified the perfectly formed malaphor.
Did you like this one? If so, check out THE book on malaphors, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, written by yours truly and available NOW on Amazon! Just click the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205
Are they all made on TV?
Posted: December 31, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: as seen on TV, expressions, humor, language, made in China, malaphor, malaphors, words Leave a commentThe speaker asked this question after browsing in Target. It is a mash up of “Made in China” and “As Seen on TV”. My guess is that most items “Seen on TV” are made in China, but that is simply a guess. Many thanks to John Ries for uttering this gem and Kevin Hatfield for hearing it and passing it on!
Malaphor of the Year (2016): Let’s Give Them a Round of Hand!
Posted: December 27, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, words 2 Comments2016 was quite a busy year, with more malaphors posted than any other previous year. I still have quite a backlog but keep ’em coming.
There were many great ones this year, so it was very difficult to come up with a winner. Who can forget “Even a blind squirrel finds a nut twice a day” (posted March 13)? I am still wondering when this occurs. Also in the running was “hindsight is 50/50“, the last malaphor posted for 2016 (posted December 20). Seems that hindsight has been indeed 50/50 considering the revisionist history we see these days.
As this was an election year, malaphors continually spewed forth in the political world. Hillary Clinton said the beauty, “that’s the creme de la resistance” when discussing her time with her grandchildren (posted May 27). Sarah Palin uttered the word “squirmish” when referring to incidents between Arab countries (posted January 20). Donald Trump blurted out “things are not rosy-dory” (posted August 1) when discussing the current economy. Perhaps he had just seen Finding Dory?
But the one that struck me as the perfect malaphor was sent to me by an old friend. He was at a conference and he heard the master of ceremonies utter this beauty (drum roll please): “Let’s give them a round of hand!” (posted Novemeber 3). “Round of hand” not only is a great mix of “round of applause” and “give them a hand”, but conjures up that ubiquitous steamship round of beef found at the end of the buffet table. I also could hear myself easily saying this malaphor at some point. So here’s to another great year of malaphor hunting. Give all of yourselves a big round of hand!
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