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.
He’s way in over his skis
Posted: May 10, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Biden, Kamala Harris, Kimberly Guilfoyle, malaphor, Salon, skis Leave a commentKimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump, Jr. announced on Newsmax Tuesday that she “knows” Vice President Kamala Harris is secretly in charge of the White House.
“It’s really sad, he’s way in over his skis,” former Fox News personality Kimberly Guilfoyle said of Biden during an appearance on Newsmax.
“Kamala Harris is really the de facto commander-in-chief,” she argued. “She made it very clear.”
“She’s calling the shots here, I know this, I’ve known her a long time,” Guilfoyle said.
Indeed, Guilfoyle first met Harris over twenty years ago. Back then, Guilfoyle was dating Gavin Newsom, the current Democratic governor of California. The two were married in 2001 and Guilfoyle became the first lady of San Francisco when he was sworn in as mayor in 2004. They went on to divorce in 2006.
But it is difficult to imagine how Guilfoyle now has insight into the inner workings of the Biden White House, which she sought to block from happening while being paid by the re-election campaign of her boyfriend’s father.
This is a mashup of “out over (one’s) skis” (get ahead of yourself) and “in over (one’s) head” (in a situation too difficult to deal with). This is similar to a previous post about skis: “let’s not get ahead of our skis”. https://malaphors.com/2018/04/26/lets-not-get-ahead-of-our-skis/. “Out” and “in” here seemed to confuse Ms. Guilfoyle.
A shout out to Mike Kovacs, who seems to catch malaphors on a daily basis. Bravo Mike.
This is the first step in the water
Posted: March 20, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: humor, language, malaphor, words Leave a commentSalt Lake City mayor Erin Mendenhall was describing the reopening of the public libraries and uttered this nice malaphor. It is a conflation of “the first step” (first in a series of actions), “the first step is always the hardest” (starting is the most difficult part of any task) and “dip a toe in the water” (to tentatively begin a new experience). Steps and toes go together and so does this nice mashup. A big thanks to Kathy Shand for hearing this one and sending it in!
They need to roll with the times
Posted: February 24, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: humor, idioms, malaphor Leave a commentA conversation ensued about some people resisting a new initiative at Penn State. The speaker then blurted this one out. It is a mashup of “roll with the punches” (cope with adversity, especially by being flexible) and “get with the times” (to understand or be knowledgable of modern times). “Let the good times roll” may also have been in the speaker’s mind, as I know he is a fan of The Cars. Also perhaps he was thinking of “a roll of dimes”, something he may have done in childhood. Or maybe “Roll Tide!”? A big thanks to Martin Pietrucha who self-reported this malaphor.
We fought each other like tooth and tongue
Posted: February 15, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: humor, idiom, language, malaphor, tooth and nail Leave a commentGrace Panetta from Business Insider discussed 11 political friendships that crossed party lines. In the section on Orrin Hatch and Ted Kennedy, Hatch says: “I have to say that we became very dear friends. That doesn’t mean we didn’t fight each other. We fought each other like tooth and tongue but afterwards, we’d put our arms around each other and laugh about it,” Hatch told NPR in 2009 after Kennedy’s death.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/11-political-friendships-proved-party-170214573.html?guccounter=1
Given the context, this appears to be a mashup of “tooth and nail, fight/with” (furiously or fiercely) and “hammer and tongs” (energetically or enthusiastically). Tongue sounds like tong (almost a homophone) and so the speaker was probably thinking “tongs”, but that still is a malaphor. The two expressions indicate doing something with great passion, hence the mixup. A tooth is near the tongue, so the substitution of tongue for nail. A big thanks to Lou Pugliese for spotting this one.
I would call them at their bluff
Posted: February 10, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: call one's bluff, humor, idioms, language, malaphor, MSNBC Leave a commentThis one was heard on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, uttered by Joe himself. He was talking about the 10 GOP Senators who were in the Oval Office proposing a counteroffer to Biden’s 1.9 trillion COVID relief bill and was suggesting that President Biden “call them at their bluff”. This is a conflation of “call (one’s) bluff” (challenge someone to act on their threat or prove that their claim is true, when one believes they are making a false claim) and “take (one) at (one’s) word” (accept what one says without further verifying). A big thank you to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one and promptly sending it in!
Bleeding the cow
Posted: September 28, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bleeding it dry, expressions, humor, idioms, malaphor, milking it dry, milking the cow, words Leave a commentThis rare comment was noticed in an online comment. The commenter was talking about Attorney General Barr’s undermining the confidence in voting by mail, and the desperation of Trump and his minions to stay in power so that they can benefit financially. This is a congruent conflation of “milking the cow” and “bleeding/milking (something) dry”, both meaning to take as much of something from someone or something as possible. “Cash cow” (an investment that generates a lot of income) may also be in the mix, considering the context. A big thanks to Ron MacDonald for spotting this one.
Straight from the hip/Shoot from the shoulder
Posted: September 23, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Biden, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, Nicole Wallace, shoot from the hip, straight from the shoulder, Trump, words 1 CommentI am discussing these two malaphors together as they were uttered on the same topic and they are mashups of similar idioms. The first, “straight from the hip”, was spoken on the Nicole Wallace show, Deadline: White House, during a discussion about Biden’s town hall and that he was speaking “straight from the hip”. “Straight from the shoulder” (simple, direct, and forthright) is what the speaker meant to say, and this was mixed with “shoot from the hip” (to speak rashly or recklessly). The phrases are almost opposites, making this an excellent example of an incongruent conflation (unintentional blend of two or more idioms with opposite meanings).
The second malaphor, “shoot from the shoulder”, was uttered by Joe Biden at his town hall (and this is the phrase MSNBC had latched on in the malaphor above). Herer is the quote:
“You’ve got to level with the American people — shoot from the shoulder. There’s not been a time they’ve not been able to step up. The president should step down,” the Democratic presidential nominee said to applause from a CNN drive-in town hall crowd Thursday night in Moosic, outside his hometown of Scranton.
This is also a mashup of “straight from the shoulder” and “shoot from the hip”, another incongruent conflation. Body parts and alliteration are all responsible for these mixups. A big thank you to Bruce Ryan, Pamela Pankey, John Pekich, and Kathy Meinhardt for all spotting the malaphor.
Malaphors 
Recent Comments