That’s the icing on the iceberg
Posted: August 1, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, icing on the cake, language, malaphor, malaphors, tip of the iceberg, words Leave a commentFlipping through the AM stations, Paul Kaufman heard this gem. It is a nice mashup of “tip of the iceberg” (small portion of something much larger and complex that cannot yet be seen or understood) and “icing on the cake” (an extra enhancement). In this age of a heating planet, we could stand to have some more icing on our icebergs. Thanks to Paul Kaufman for hearing this one and sharing it!
Success is just cream on the cake
Posted: November 2, 2014 Filed under: cake, FOOD | Tags: congruent conflations, cream of the crop, expressions, humor, icing on the cake, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, Sting, Twenty Feet from Stardom, words 3 CommentsThis malaphor, spoken by Sting in the documentary “Twenty Feet from Stardom” (an excellent film by the way), involves the phrases “icing on the cake” (something extra on a successful endeavor) and “cream of the crop” (finest or best). I don’t believe “cream on the cake” is a British expression, but please send me your comments over the pond about this.
It is similar to a previously posted malaphor and the tag for this website, “cream of the cake.” Here is the entire quote from the movie:
“Real musicians, there’s a spiritual component to
what they do…. Success is just cream on the cake.
There’s this idea that you can just go on American
Idol and become a star, but you may bypass the
spiritual… and if you bypass that, then your success
will be wafer-thin.” Sting
Thanks to Barry Eigen for hearing this one and sending it in!
That would just be gravy on the icing
Posted: October 6, 2014 Filed under: cake, FOOD, gravy | Tags: congruent conflation, expressions, humor, icing on the cake, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, the rest is just gravy, words 1 CommentThe yuck factor is high on this one, but it’s a great malaphor. It was said by someone who was discussing the possibility of getting more money than she anticipated. This is a congruent conflation of “icing on the cake” and “the rest is just gravy”, both meaning an extra enhancement. Perhaps this one describes a little too much enhancement. Coincidentally, I received this malaphor from two people last week who don’t know each other so kudos to Deb Rose and Jonathan Ogle for sending this one in!
It’s like the cherry on top of the cake
Posted: June 5, 2014 Filed under: cake, cherry, FOOD | Tags: Animal Planet, blended idioms, cherry on top, congruent conflation, expressions, humor, icing on the cake, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idiom, treehouse masters, words 5 CommentsThis one was heard on the Animal Planet tv show, Treehouse Masters. Daryl, the foreman, was referring to a door on the treehouse that looked like a sarcophagus. It is a congruent conflation of “icing on the cake” and “cherry on top”, both meaning an extra enhancement to something. There are certainly cherries that appear on the top of some cakes, but not as common as sundaes. In fact there is a Quebec idiom, “la cerise sur le sundae”, also with the same meaning but the cherry is on the sundae, not cake. A shout out to my high school buddy, Marti Fenimore, for sending this one in!
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