He’s laid down a line
Posted: September 19, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: draw the line, expressions, Harry Litman, humor, language, lay down the law, malaphor, malaphors, Trump, words Leave a comment
It struck a heart string with many
Posted: September 17, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: congruent conflation, expressions, malaphor, malaphors, strike a chord, tug on my heart strings, words Leave a commentThis beauty comes from a Fox News article about Wendy’s employees making a blind couple’s eating experience a good one. The article states that “it struck a heart string with many.” This is a congruent conflation of “strike a chord” and “tug at (one’s) heart strings”, both meaning to elicit a strong emotional response to something. “Tugging” and “striking” are action words touching something and are probably the source of the mix up. Certainly one can make “chords” with “strings”, and perhaps the author was thinking of “cords” instead of “chords” as cords are strings. This is a classic malaphor. A big thanks to Margaret Grover for spotting this one and sending it in.
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They want to take me to bat
Posted: September 12, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bat around, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, Omarosa, take me to task, Trump, words Leave a commentDuring 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 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 937 The Fan, eat crow, eat my words, expressions, humor, Josh Taylor, language, malaphor, words Leave a commentFollowing 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!
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He was sleeping on the switch
Posted: September 9, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, malaphor, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Ron Cook, The Fan 93.7, words Leave a commentOn a Pittsburgh sports radio call-in show called The Fan, Ron Cook (an excellent Pittsburgh Post Gazette Sports writer and sports show commentator) hung up on a caller who did not answer in time. He then said the caller was “sleeping on the switch”. This is a congruent conflation of “asleep at the switch” and “sleeping on the job”, both meaning to be inattentive. “Asleep at the wheel” might also be in play, but I doubt it as the mix up is with the prepositions “at” and “on”. A big thanks to John Kooser who was certainly not sleeping on the switch when he heard this one.
The cart’s out of the barn. You can’t put it back in the bottle.
Posted: September 8, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: humor, language, malaphor, MSNBC, Sam Stein, The Daily Beast, Trump, word play, words 2 CommentsThis 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.
lumps in the ointment
Posted: September 2, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Don McGahn, expressions, fly in the ointment, humor, lumps in the gravy, malaphor, Rachel Maddow, Trump, words Leave a commentRachel Maddow said this one when she was describing Don McGahn’s cooperation with the Special Counsel in an effort to avoid John Dean’s fate. Basically she was saying that McGahn was not the apparent hero he seems because of his apparently selfless cooperation, and that there were a few “lumps in the ointment.” This is a mashup of “lumps in the gravy” (problems or stumbling blocks) and “fly in the ointment” (flaw that detracts from something positive) l up of Lumps in the gravy, flies in the ointment. “Take (one’s) lumps” (to accept the punishment one deserves) might also be in the mix (or should I say gravy?). And then again, maybe Rachel was thinking of Frank Zappa…..
A big thanks to “my ol’ pal” Beatrice Zablocki for hearing this one and sending it in!
The last thing we need to do is monkey this up
Posted: August 29, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Andrew Gillum, humor, language, malaphor, monkey around, muck up, Ron DeSantis, words 2 CommentsRon 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 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: drink someone under the table, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, throw him under the bus, words Leave a commentThis 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!
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They don’t want to count their chickens before they roost
Posted: August 27, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: chickens, expressions idioms, hatch, humor, Katie Tur, language, malaphor, MSNBC, roost, Trump, words, Zerlina Maxwell 1 CommentZerlina 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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