He’s laid down a line

Posted: September 19, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
Harry Litman was discussing Trump on MSNBC and uttered this nice malaphor.  It is a mash up of “lay down the law” (give an order or directive) and “draw a line” (to set a boundary). “Lay”, “line”, and “law” all seem to be part of the scramble here.  Mr. Litman has been the subject of a previous malaphor (“take no quarter”  https://malaphors.com/2018/04/13/take-no-quarter/) and was very good natured about it.  A true Pittsburgher, full of grace!  A big thanks to Frank King for hearing this one and sending it in.

You need to put your ducks in one basket

Posted: September 13, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This one was overheard at a business meeting.  It is a nice conflation of “get your ducks in a row” (get well-organized) and “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” (don’t risk everything on one venture).  Idioms containing the words eggs, ducks, or baskets seem to get commonly jumbled.  Type any one of these words in the search and you will find many postings on the subjects.  A big thanks to John Hatfield III for hearing this one and sending it in.

They want to take me to bat

Posted: September 12, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

During an interview on MSNBC on Sunday, 9/9/18, Omarosa Manigault Newman uttered this mix up.  It is a mash up of “take me to task (scold or reprimand) and I believe, given the context, “bat for the other team” (to support, secretly or openly, the opposing side of a given contest or debate).  “Bat around” (hit something around) might also be in the mix, again given the context.  A big thanks to Bob Smith for hearing this one and sending it in.

 

I am willing to eat my crow

Posted: September 10, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Following up on yesterday’s malaphor, this one also was heard on the Pittsburgh sports radio call in show, 93.7 The Fan.  This one was uttered by sports commentator and analyst Josh Taylor, who was saying that at the beginning of the season he thought the Pirates starting pitchers were not going to be good enough.  He admitted he was wrong, and then said this nice congruent conflation of “eat crow”, and “eat my words”, both meaning to confess being wrong about a prediction.  “Eat” is in both idioms which produced no doubt the mashup.  “I’ll eat my hat” must also be in the mix (thanks “my ol’ pal”!), as Josh made a prediction that he had to admit later was wrong.  Eating one’s hat is the result.  Then again, eating one’s own crow might really be admitting error.   A big thanks once again to John Kooser for hearing this one and passing it on!

If you want to predict something right, buy the book on malaphors, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, available on Amazon.  You’ll be eating high off the hog, with no crow.

The cart’s out of the barn. You can’t put it back in the bottle.

Posted: September 8, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

This multi-faceted malaphor was uttered by Sam Stein, Politics Editor of The Daily Beast.  He was discussing Trump’s inadvertent confessions.  This is a three way malaphor, mashing up “the cat’s out of the bag” (the secret has been made known), “closing the barn door after the horse has bolted” (trying to prevent a problem after the damage has been done),  and “can’t put the genie back in the bottle” (can’t go back to the state you were in before an important change happened).  Cats and carts sound alike, contributing to the confusion.  All three idioms describe a situation where something has changed and it cannot be reversed.  So, all three are appropriate in context, but perhaps not jumbled together.  A big thanks to Ron MacDonald for hearing this gem.

It sent shivers up my skin

Posted: September 4, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The submitter was out with some friends for dinner when this was suddenly uttered.  An instant malaphor alert went off.  This is a nice, alliterative congruent conflation (best kind of malaphor, imho) of “send shivers up (one’s) spine” and “makes (one’s) skin crawl”, both meaning to cause to feel frightened or unnerved.  Spine and skin are mixed here, and the visual of shivers crawling.  Certainly your skin shivers when you’re cold, so the mixup is quite expected.  A big thank you to Steve Grieme for hearing this one and passing it on!

I want to get the elephant out of the room

Posted: September 3, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
This was uttered in a general session meeting at a conference.  The speaker was trying to raise an issue that was well-known to all but was avoided in discussion.  I believe it is a mashup of “the elephant in the room” (a serious problem that everyone is aware of but choose not to mention) and “out in the open” (expose something for public knowledge).  The beauty of this malaphor is that it contains idioms that are opposites: one exposing something that is hidden and the other keeping something hidden that should be exposed.  “Out on the table” might also be in the mix.
As any loyal malaphors.com follower knows, idioms involving elephants are frequently mixed.  Type in “elephant” and see the many posts.  There is also a chapter in my book, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors” (Amazon) devoted to elephants.  A big thanks to John Costello for hearing this one and sharing it.  Also a big thanks to Cheryl Rosato for her “elephant in the room” drawing and for illustrating the malaphor book!

The last thing we need to do is monkey this up

Posted: August 29, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Ron DeSantis, the Republican candidate for governor of Florida, uttered this one on Fox when asked about his Democrat opponent, Andrew Gillum:  “The last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting the state.”  https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/29/politics/ron-desantis-andrew-gillum-attack/index.html

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/29/ron-desantis-andrew-gillum-monkey-florida-elections-801685

Putting aside the controversy swirling around this utterance, I believe it is a malaphor, as the phrase “monkey this up” does not exist.  Instead, it is a mash up of “monkey around” (waste time or procrastinate) and “muck (it) up” (to ruin or mess something up).  Muck and monkey have similar sounds, perhaps contributing to this mix up.  A partial shout out to Mike Kovacs who deconstructed this with me today. @RepDeSantis @AndrewGillum

 

He can drink anybody under the bus

Posted: August 29, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This was overheard at the Hillstone Restaurant, Winter Park FL. A very drunk lady was talking to her friend.  It is a mashup of “drink someone under the table” (to drink more alcohol than someone else) and “throw (someone) under the bus” (to exploit someone’s trust for one’s own purpose).  My guess is that the speaker was thinking of a bus boy, someone who cleans tables at a restaurant.  This is the connection between bus and table.  Also, “under” is in both expressions, no doubt contributing to the mental mix up.  A big thanks to Tom Justice for hearing this one and sending it in!

If you liked this beauty you’ll love my book on malaphors, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other malaphors”, available on Amazon. On sale right now for $6.99!!  https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205

They don’t want to count their chickens before they roost

Posted: August 27, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Zerlina Maxwell on MSNBC’s “Live with Katie Tur” uttered this beauty when she was talking about Democrats avoiding calls for impeaching Trump.  This is a barnyard mashup of “don’t count your chickens before they hatch” (don’t make future plans before they happen) and “chickens come home to roost” (you have to face the consequences of your mistakes).  “Chickens” of course are the culprit here, contributing to the mental yolk.  These  fowl phrases seem to get mixed up a lot  – see “Never count your eggs before they hatch (July 9, 2012 post) , and “Might the roosters be guarding the henhouse?” (August 2, 2014 post).  I was eggcited when several people laid this one on me.  First was the ubiquitous Mike Kovacs, followed quickly by James Kozlowski and Bob Maxwell.  Malaphor spotters are everywhere it seems.

 

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