It must really ring a chord with him
Posted: September 5, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentThis was overheard in a conversation where the speaker meant to say “strike a chord”. It is a nice mashup of “strike a chord” (elicit a significant emotional reaction) and “rings a bell” (to sound familiar). Bells and chords are both musical items contributing to the mixup. A tip of the toque to Anthony Kovacs for hearing this one.
Leading the drum beat
Posted: July 9, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Chris Hayes, expressions, Frank King, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentThis one was heard on the podcast All In With Chris Hayes. You can hear it as the 40:14 mark:
It is a mashup of “beat the drum” (strongly advocate for) and “lead the charge” (to be one of the first to do something). A big thanks to frequent contributor Frank King, the Mental Health Comedian.
Talking to him goes in one ear and out of his ass
Posted: June 28, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 1 CommentThe speaker was exasperated with an adversary in court. She told her husband, “Well, talking to him goes in one ear and out of his ass. It’s simply useless.” This is a mashup of “in one ear and out the other” (essentially ignored or forgotten almost immediately after being heard) and “talk out (of) (one’s) ass” (to talk nonsense or exaggerate one’s achievements). The speaker must have been thinking her adversary was an “ass” when she jumbled the two phrases. A shout out to Marykathryn Kopec for unintentionally uttering this one and sharing it with us! Paints an interesting picture.
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He is going to rape this country dry
Posted: March 24, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, idioms, language, malaphor, mixed idioms, Trump, words Leave a commentThis was noticed in a Facebook comment exchange. The commenter was talking about Trump and his control over the Department of Justice and the FBI and what he may do with these government agencies. This is a mashup of “rape the land” (destroy all the resources) and “bleed/suck/milk (something or someone) dry” (take all the resources that someone or something has available). There may also have been a Freudian slip in there. A big thanks to Diana Greenhalgh for spotting this one and sending it in!
He had a bug under his saddle
Posted: March 19, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, idioms, language, malaphor, words Leave a commentThe speaker was describing a friend who was complaining. This is a congruent conflation of “burr under (one’s) saddle” and “bug up (one’s) ass”, both referring to a source or cause of a persistent annoyance. This one is similar to a previous post, “he put a burr in her bonnet”. https://malaphors.com/2012/12/28/he-put-a-burr-in-her-bonnet/ A big thanks to Martin Pietrucha for sharing this one.
I’m living the paradise
Posted: March 17, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentTwo guys were having a conversation. One asked the other how he was doing, and he replied, “I’m living the paradise”. This is a congruent conflation of “living the dream” and “another day in paradise”, both referring to living an ideal life (but the latter is often used sarcastically). A shout out to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one and sending it in.
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Meshing on all cylinders
Posted: December 6, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, malaphor, malaphors, Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles, words Leave a commentThe coach of the football team, the Philadelphia Eagles, was asked about the team’s collapse last year:
“Last year is over. We don’t care about last year,” Sirianni said on Sunday. “We learned what we needed to learn from last year and what we needed to do off of that. This year, it’s a different group of guys. This is a different team that’s gelling and meshing on all cylinders right now. With that being said, you are only as good as your last game. We’ve got a big game coming up this weekend.” Here is the link to the entire interview:
This is a mashup of “meshing with (someone)” (working well together) and “hitting on all cylinders” (performing at maximum efficiency). Both idioms describe working together and the malaphor could thus be a congruent conflation. Props to Linda Bernstein for spotting this one in the Philadelphia Inquirer and sending it in!
I think Hillary really had the upper leg
Posted: November 8, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, Hillary Clinton, humor, Kamala Harris, malaphor, malaphors, New York times, words Leave a commentThis one was spotted in a New York Times article about how undecided voters are making up their minds. The one lady named Morgan said about the comparison between Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris:
“I think it’s unfair. I think Hillary was much more versed going into her campaign. I feel that Harris is not nearly as prepared as Hillary was. I do see some similarities, in terms of the name-calling and belittling. I think Hillary really had the upper leg, if you had to compare the two.”
This is a nice congruent conflation of “have a leg up” and “have the upper hand” (have an advantage over someone or something). This is another example of a body part mix up. A big thank you to Linda Bernstein for spotting this one!
It was a softball layup
Posted: November 6, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, idioms, malaphor, words Leave a commentThe contributor’s nephew, who loves just about all sports, uttered this one. It is a congruent conflation of “a softball” and “a layup”, both describing something easy (one is a question and the other a task). A softball layup must be super easy. A big thanks to Verbatim for hearing this one and sending it in.
They’re talking out of both sides of their neck
Posted: June 7, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, Ronald Greene, Velshi, words Leave a commentRonald Greene’s attorney was talking about the Louisiana police and a cover up on MSNBC’s Velshi show when he uttered this malaphor. It’s a mashup of “talking through the back of (one’s) neck” (exaggerate, often to the point of making false statements) and “talking out of both sides of (one’s) mouth” (maintain contradictory positions in an attempt to please the most people). This conflation combines the meanings of both idioms into one new one. A big thanks to Jim Kozlowski for hearing this one.
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