They’re walking on pins and needles
Posted: July 3, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, Jared Kushner, language, malaphor, malaphors, on pins and needles, Robert Costa, Trump, walking on eggshells, words Leave a commentThis nice malaphor was uttered by Robert Costa, national political reporter for the Washington Post and host of PBS’ “Washington Week in Review”. He made this comment when describing White House staffers’ relationships with Jared Kushner. It is a mash up of “walking on eggshells” (to be very diplomatic and inoffensive) and “on pins and needles” (to be anxious or in suspense). This mixed idiom reminds me of those folks walking on nails or hot coals. Perhaps that’s the feeling if you work at the White House. It also reminds me of one of “The Master”s best efforts, describing a group of anxious federal employees: “they’re sitting on their hands and needles”. https://malaphors.com/2012/08/27/sitting-on-their-hands-and-needles/ A big thanks to Mike Kovacs, the “24/7 malaphor hunter”.
We played our hearts off
Posted: June 28, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Carl Hagelin, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, Pittsburgh Penguins, played our hearts out played out butts off, words Leave a commentThis was spoken by Pittsburgh Penguins hockey player Carl Hagelin after winning the Stanley Cup. It is a congruent conflation of “played our butts off” and “played our hearts out” (to an extreme degree or very hard). Out and off are the culprits here. Of course, maybe Carl is a bridge player. A big thanks to Jake Holdcroft for hearing this one on a local sports program and passing it on!
What planet are you living under?
Posted: June 26, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, on another planet, what rock did you crawl out of, words 2 CommentsThis botched question is a mashup of the phrases “on another planet” (oblivious to one’s surroundings or acting strangely) and “what crawled from under a rock” (someone or something unsavory or disliked). It might be appropriate for Atlas but not sure who else. A big thanks to Hannah Evanuik for unintentionally saying this one and Jake Holdcroft for passing it on!
Bockage
Posted: June 24, 2017 Filed under: WORD BLENDS | Tags: box, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, package, portmanteau, WORD BLENDS Leave a commentThe speaker meant to say “package” but this came out. It is a nice word blend malaphor of “box” and “package”. Since most packages in the mail now come in boxes, thanks to Amazon and the internet, “bockage” was eventually going to be spit out by someone. And really, isn’t it a nice word? Sounds like the lord of the manor pronouncing “package”. Also could be used when there are delays in shipping: “Sorry, we have a bockage right now”. A big thanks to Martin Pietrucha who accidentally blurted this one out and shared it immediately!
If you like this word blend check out my book on malaphors entitled “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, available on Amazon. Just click this link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205. There’s a whole chapter devoted to word blends, which are not portmanteaus, by the way (explanation in the book!).
It tickled my fancy bone
Posted: June 23, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, it tickled my funny bone, language, malaphor, malaphors, tickled my fancy, words Leave a commentThis is a nice mash up of “tickled my fancy” and “it tickled my funny bone” (to make someone laugh). To laugh and be curious at the same time? Perhaps, but in this case just another great malaphor. Tickle is the culprit here, as well as the similar sounding words “fancy” and “funny”. A big thanks to “Curious Steph” who wrote this accidentally. By the way, she is starting a new blog – curioussteph.com, Check it out.
They’re getting ready to lower the bomb on them
Posted: June 20, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: drop the bomb, expressions, humor, language, lower the boom, malaphor, malaphors, words 2 Comments
Anne of Seven Gables
Posted: June 16, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Anne of Green Gables, expressions, humor, language, Lucy Maud Montgomery, malaphor, malaphors, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables, words 4 Comments
That game was a real nail-breaker
Posted: June 12, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized, WORD BLENDS | Tags: expressions, heart-breaker, humor, ice breaker, language, malaphor, malaphors, nail-biter, Pittsburgh Penguins, Stanley Cup, words Leave a commentI just heard this nice word blend malaphor today. A couple of guys in the sauna were talking about the Penguins/Predators final game for the Stanley Cup and one blurted this out. It is a mash up of “nail-biter” (a situation whose outcome is marked with nervous apprehension) and “heart-breaker” (a situation that causes great sadness). Since the subject was hockey, perhaps “icebreaker” (to initiate a conversation or get it started) was also on the speaker’s mind.
At the drop of a beat AND Hold the brakes
Posted: June 8, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: at the drop of a hat, congruent conflations, expressions, First Dates, hit the brakes, hold your horses, humor, in a heartbeat, language, malaphor, malaphors, NBC, words 4 CommentsDouble malaphor!! This is as rare as a double rainbow sighting. Both of these malaphors were heard on one episode of the NBC show First Dates. “At the drop of a beat” is a congruent conflation of “at the drop of a hat” and “in a heartbeat”, meaning to do something immediately. Hat and heart might be the culprits here, and perhaps the speaker thinking of the slang phrase “dropping a beat”, meaning to play a beat. See http://onlineslangdictionary.com/meaning-definition-of/drop-a-beat.
“Hold the brakes” is another congruent conflation of “hit the brakes” and “hold your horses”, both meaning to stop something. Hold and hit are probably the culprits in this mashup. Outstanding work goes to Steve Grieme for hearing both of these, sending them in, and offering the above deconstruction of each phrase. Steve is now given the official title of “Malaphor Man”.
She’s not a shrinking flower
Posted: June 6, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, shrinking violet, wallflower, words Leave a commentThis is a nice congruent conflation of “shrinking violet” and “wallflower”, both describing someone who is shy. The confusion is obvious: violets are flowers. The speaker (who was me by the way) may have also been mixing shrinking with stinking. The local conservatory, the Phipps, has a corpse flower, which emits a smell akin to rotting flesh when it blooms, and the day I uttered this malaphor the flower had bloomed and there was a great deal of news about it.
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