Consumers tighten their wallets

Fox News anchor Kayleigh McEnany was discussing rising grocery prices, and noted that budget meal Hamburger Helper was making a comeback. She said, “one tried and true brand is making a big comeback as consumers tighten their wallets – Hamburger Helper.” This is an incongruent conflation (mix of two idioms with opposite meanings) of “tighten (one’s) belt” (live more frugally) and “lighten (one’s) wallet” (spend money, usually more than expected). The similarly sounding words “lighten” and “tighten” may have played a role in the mix up. Here’s the quote:

A big thank you to Frank King for spotting this one and sending it in!