Look what the cat dragged out of the bag!
Posted: August 24, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: cat out of the bag, expressions, humor, language, look what the cat dragged in, malaphor, malaphors, words Leave a commentThe speaker and his co-workers were serving as greeters for a Christmas Eve service. A mutual friend was approaching from a distance and the speaker casually but jokingly yelled this malaphor out. It is a nice mash up of two idioms involving the word “cat” – “look at what the cat dragged in” (exclamation about a person who just arrived, presumably late) and “the cat is out of the bag” (the secret has been revealed). A big thanks to Joel who uttered this mixed metaphor and for sending it in! I expect to see more from him as he has a reputation for unintentional idiom blending!
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There is not enough respect shown to ordinary people busting their necks
Posted: August 22, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: breaking their necks, busting their butts, expressions, humor, Joe Biden, language, malaphor, malaphors, Morning Joe, MSNBC, Trump, words Leave a commentThis beauty was uttered by Vice President Joe Biden on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. He was talking about both parties and noting that they were not very good “at listening to the concerns of ordinary people busting their necks.” http://info.msnbc.com/_news/2016/07/27/35882707-morning-joe-news-joe-biden-says-the-democratic-party-overall-hasnt-spoken-enough-to-white-working-class-voters?lite
This is a nice congruent conflation of “busting their butts” and “breaking their necks”, both meaning to work very hard. The confusion not only stems from the similar meanings of both phrases but also the words “bust” and “break”. In addition, as noted here many times, body parts are often mixed up in the wonderful world of malaphors. A big thanks to Linda Bernstein for catching this in the NY Times and passing it on!
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Go over and beyond 4 this Lil dude
Posted: August 21, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: above and beyond, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, over the top, words Leave a commentThis nice malaphor was written by Washington Redskins wide receiver DeSean Jackson on his Facebook page, relating his affection for his son. It is a mash up of “above and beyond” and “over the top”, both meaning extreme or more than is required. Idioms with direction words are commonly mixed. Many thanks to Judy McLendon Knaub for spotting this one and passing it on!
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It’s like finding a diamond in a haystack
Posted: August 19, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: diamond in the rough, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, needle in a haystack, words Leave a commentThe speaker was describing something that was hard to find. This is a nice mash up of “diamond in the rough” (someone or something whose good qualities are hidden) and “needle in a haystack” (something extremely hard to find). Both idioms involve something hidden, which I imagine caused the mental hiccup. Also both phrases are the same symmetrically, i.e., four words and sharing the word “in”. In addition, needles and diamonds are both sharp objects , and haystacks tend to be unkempt and rough. Like a diamond, this malaphor just gets better on closer inspection.
Perhaps in Trinidad and Tobago this phrase is an accepted one, as President Anthony Carmona described the new chairman of the Salaries Review Commission (SRC), Kyle Rudden (picture below), as “a diamond in the haystack.” http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2015-10-28/diamond-haystack.
A big thanks to Gabe for hearing this one and sending it in!
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It went to pot in a handbag
Posted: August 17, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: books, going to pot, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, to hell in a handbag, to hell in a handbasket, words Leave a commentYvonne Stam, a frequent contributor to this site, heard this gem from her sister, who was referring to children reaching middle school age. It is a congruent conflation of “going to pot” and “going to hell in a handbasket”, both meaning declining or getting worse. As Yvonne says, the speaker was probably confusing the word “handbasket” (surely an antique word) with handbag. She also points out that “to hell in a handbag” is noted in Wikipedia as a common version. This malaphor is similar to one I posted in 2012, “the project is going to pot in a handbasket” (https://malaphors.com/2012/09/15/the-project-is-going-to-pot-in-a-handbasket/) which was uttered in the 70s. Perhaps handbaskets were more common then. Pot was, that’s for sure.
A big thanks to Yvonne Stam for hearing this one and sending it in!
I have a quandrum
Posted: August 16, 2016 Filed under: WORD BLENDS | Tags: Barrel of Monks, conundrum, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, portmanteau, quandary, WORD BLENDS, words Leave a commentA spin on MLK’s famous speech? No, but a pretty good word blend, combining “quandary” (dilemma) and “conundrum” (a puzzle). As I have explained in previous posts, single word malaphors are different than portmanteaus. A portmanteau is an intentional blending of two words to form a new word with a specific meaning, such as “smog” (a blend of smoke and fog). A single word malaphor is an unintentional blending of two words to create a new word that is incorrect, such as “Buckminster Palace” (Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace), or a “faceover” (makeover and facelift). Interestingly, Quandrum is the name of a Belgian Ale brewed by the Barrel of Monks brewery located in Boca Raton, Florida. It is described as a “quadraphonic Belgian style quadrupel aged several months in rum barrels”. Cheers! A big shout out to Tiffany G. for hearing this one and passing it on!
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You are cutting yourself off at the foot
Posted: August 15, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: cut someone off at the knees, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, shoot yourself at the foot, words Leave a commentThe speaker was telling someone that his statement was hurting his own argument. It is a nice blend of “shoot yourself in the foot” (foolishly harm one’s own cause) and “cut (someone) off at the knees” (thoroughly humiliate or squelch). Any frequent reader of this blog will know that idioms containing body parts are often confused and mixed. In this case, feet and knees are the culprits. Shooting and cutting, both action verbs that involve penetration, also seem to play a part in this malaphor. Many thanks to Lara Hayhurst Compton for saying this and Jody Compton for sending it on!
If you liked this one, and want more hands/feet/knees/ankles mix ups, get the book He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors, available on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205.
There wasn’t a shot in hell I was losing
Posted: August 13, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2016 Olympic Games, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, Michael Phelps, shot in hell, shot in the dark, snowball's chance in hell, words Leave a commentI had to post this one immediately as it is fresh from Rio. Michael Phelps was talking about his on his win in the 200m butterfly: ‘There wasn’t a shot in hell I was losing’ . This is a mash up of “shot in the dark” (a wild guess or attempt) and “snowball’s chance in hell” (no chance at all). Perhaps “shot to hell” (worn out or ruined) might have also been on the speaker’s mind as both words appear in the malaphor, but since it has very little to do with the context, I doubt it. “A cold day in hell” (an impossible event) may also have been on Michael’s mind, as he clearly believed (and rightly so) that he was not going to be beaten in that event. Here is the link to his interview:
A big thanks to Gerry Abbott for his keen ears in hearing this one and passing it on!
Enjoying the Olympics? Pair those events with the malaphor book, He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors, where an entire chapter is devoted to sports malaphors just like the one above. Check it out on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205.
The man is a nut cake
Posted: August 10, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Chris Hayes, Donald Trump, expressions, Gordon Humphrey, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, MSNBC, nutcase, nutty as a fruitcake, words Leave a commentOn MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes” show last night, former New Hampshire Senator Gordon Humphrey (R-NH) said Trump is a “nut cake”. This is a congruent conflation of “nutcase” and “nutty as a fruitcake”, both obviously meaning to be crazy or insane. Here is an excerpt from the transcript, courtesy of Breitbart News (trying to stay apolitical here):
In the common parlance, the man is a nut cake, he is a looney bird. And it would be the height of irresponsibility to elevate him to the presidency. It would be recklessness to make him commander in chief. I’ve issued a call to members of the RNC this afternoon to demand an emergency meeting of the Republican National Committee to strip Donald Trump of the nomination and to replace him with someone of sound mind.
http://www.breitbart.com/video/2016/08/09/fmr-nh-senator-trump/
As followers know, malaphors are spoken by all, including Republicans and Democrats. Who can forget Obama’s excellent “my opponent would like you to think I am green behind the ears when it comes to foreign policy”, or Hillary Clinton’s recent “the creme de la resistance”? A big thanks to Sam Edelmann who heard this one and passed it on to Malaphor Central.
If he doesn’t pass the mustard, then we aren’t promoting him
Posted: August 8, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: congruent conflation, cut the mustard, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, malaprop, pass muster, words Leave a commentSharing must be a really big deal at this company. I understand not passing ketchup is grounds for dismissal. Actually, this gem was uttered when discussing an internal candidate who applied for a promotion: “We can interview him, but if he doesn’t pass the mustard, then we aren’t promoting him.” This is a congruent conflation of “cut the mustard” and “pass muster”, both meaning to perform satisfactorily. At first this just appeared to be a malaprop (misusing a word, generally similar in sound) – mustard for muster – but on closer inspection it indeed is a mash up of two idioms, hence a very nice malaphor. A big thanks to Tiffany G. for hearing this one and passing it (and the condiment) on!
Did you like this one? I sure did, and you can find a ton of other fun malaphors just like this one in my latest book, He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors, available on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205!
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