A chill ran through my blood

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

In the Netflix series, “Evil Genius”, courtroom artist Kevin John uttered this malaphor when the defendant in the infamous Pizza Bomber case walked into the courtroom.  It is a congruent conflation of “a chill (or shiver) ran down my spine” and “my blood ran cold”, both describing a sensation of fear or dread.  “Ran” is in both expressions, probably contributing to the mental hiccup.  Also “cold” and “chill” are similar meaning and sounding words.  A tip of the toque to Mike Kovacs, aka “The Malaphor Hunter”.

There’s a smoke trail

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

This malaphor was uttered by Mark Teixeira, discussing Robinson Cano’s suspension for violating MLB drug rules:

“Robbie Cano’s assistant was on the list for Biogenesis,” Teixeira said. “Of course he had his assistant buy stuff for him. Alex Rodriguez got popped by Biogenesis and Melky got popped. They’re his best friends. When someone gets lumped into that group, it’s because there’s evidence, there’s a paper trail, there’s a smoke trail. …

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-baseball-mlb-teixeira-cano/ex-yankee-teixeira-not-surprised-at-cano-suspension-idUSKCN1IJ09B

This is a mash up of “paper trail” (written evidence of someone’s activities) and “smoking gun” (indisputably incriminating evidence).  The speaker might also have been thinking about contrails, which are essentially smoke trails from airplanes.  A big thanks to John Costello for spotting this one!

It definitely has my radar up

Posted: May 24, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This was heard on Morning Joe on May 17, uttered by Mika Brzezinski discussing the missing SARS reports and Ronan Farrow’s story.  It is a nice mashup of “on my radar (screen)” (considered important) and “has my antenna up” (curiosity or interest).  “Have my back (or dander) up” (get someone angry) might also be in the mix, but I doubt it considering the context (although the whole Cohen affair might be ticking her off).  A big thanks to that Malaphor Extraordinaire, Frank King, for hearing this one.  He certainly has the ears of a hawk.

 

He broke the scoop

Posted: May 21, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rachel Maddow uttered this malaphor the other night, talking about Ronan Farrow’s latest scoop.  It is a mashup of “get the scoop” (get the news) and “break the story” (the first to address an issue, usually news).  Since “the scoop” is usually the news, this fractured saying makes some sense.  It also has a little assonance to it, so to speak.  Another thank you to Frank King for sharing this one.

We haven’t emptied all our cards

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

This was uttered by Michael Avenatti on the Lawrence O’Donnell MSNBC show when he was asked whether there will be any further disclosures regarding Michael Cohen.  It is a mashup of “show (one’s) cards” (to make one’s plans or intentions known) and “empty (something) out” (to remove or pour all of the contents from something).  Revealing and then emptying seems to be what he has done to date, so the malaphor makes sense.  This is not the first malaphor uttered by Michael Avenatti.  Check out some of his other great mashups, like “he folded like a cheap deck of cards”.  A big thanks to Beatrice Zablocki for hearing this one.  She’s a major contributor to this site. She’s the top of the notch!

I smell red flags

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

This is a congruent conflation of “smell trouble” and “red flag(s)”, both meaning potential or imminent danger.  “I smell a rat” (suspect someone is guilty of deception or betrayal) might also be in the mix.  Of course, those red flags around gas leaks seem to conjure up this malaphor.  A big thanks to Tim Geier who overheard this one!

Dancing on eggs

Posted: May 3, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The new malaphor “Master” Chris Matthews, just described a delicate verbal situation as “dancing on eggs.”  This is a beautiful mashup of “walking on eggshells” (to act with great care not to upset someone) and “(tap) dancing around” (evade a question).  Both phrases involve careful speaking hence the mixup.  Also walking and dancing are similar actions, contributing to the malaphor.  Malaphor hunters will witness a goldmine of malaphors by listening to this guy.  I am in awe.  A  big thanks to Beatrice Zablocki for hearing this one and passing it on

(Trump) shoots off the cuff

Posted: April 28, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This perfectly formed congruent conflation was uttered by Michael Avenatti on MSNBC (Lawrence O’Donnell).  He was referring to Trump’s call to Fox and Friends.  It is a mashup of “shoots from the hip” and “speaks off the cuff”, both meaning to speak spontaneously and frankly.  “Shoots (one’s) mouth off” (to brag or tell secrets) may also have been in the mix, given the speaker and the subject matter.  Interestingly, this is very similar to another malaphor posted previously,  “(Trump) shoots from the cuff”, spoken by Megyn Kelly.   https://malaphors.com/2015/09/05/trump-shoots-from-the-cuff/

This is one of many political malaphors.  You can find many in my book “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, available on Amazon.  Just click here:   https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205

A big thanks to Frank King who spotted another one.  He is quickly becoming the Frank King of Malaphors.

 

Stop wasting my wheels

Posted: April 25, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A salesperson uttered this one, intending to say “time” instead of “wheels”.  This is a nice congruent conflation of “wasting time” and “spinning (one’s) wheels”, both meaning to not use time productively.  Car “wheels” can “spin” out if you accelerate quickly, and that visual may have been in the speaker’s mind when she spoke.  A big thanks to Gary Kelly who heard this one and promptly recognized a nice juicy malaphor.

Most insurers are just burying their hands in the sand

Posted: April 23, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Normally I would pass this off as just using the wrong word, in this case body part, in an expression – hands for heads.  However, in context it is indeed a malaphor.  On the Clark Howard podcast from 4/13/2018, Clark was discussing the insurance industry’s slow response to entering the short-term rental (e.g., AirBnB) market. He had just said the insurance companies were sitting on their hands, then shortly thereafter said, “Most insurers are just burying their hands in the sand.”  He quickly corrected himself, but unfortunately did not shout “Malaphor!” at that moment as he apparently is not a follower of this site.  What about it, Clark?  @clarkhoward  This is a mashup of “”sitting on (one’s) hands” (taking no action) and “burying (one’s) head in the sand” (to avoid a situation pretending it does not exist).  Both expressions involve inaction, contributing to the mixup.  Also the words “sand” and “hand” rhyme which also could have a culprit.  A big thanks to Debbie Rose who heard this one.

 

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