The President needs to come straight with the American people

Posted: May 9, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This malaphor was uttered by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) on the MSNBC show The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell.  It is a congruent conflation of “come clean” and “be straight” (be honest and straightforward).  Kudos to that Malaphor Hunter Frank King, the Mental Health Comedian.

His job was running point for the White House

Posted: May 7, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Rachel Maddow uttered this one the other night.  Referring to Ty Cobb, Trump’s lawyer who resigned, said, “His job was running point for the White House on the Trump Russia investigation.”  This is a mashup of the military expression “walk (or take) point” (to assume the first and most exposed position in a combat military formation) and “running interference” (to take actions to avoid or prevent certain problems).  As the submitter said, if you ran point, you’d out distance yourself from the other troops, which is a bad idea.  A big thanks to Frank King who heard this one and passed it on!

He’s a real blowhole

Posted: May 5, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

This descriptive malaphor was uttered by a friend describing Kanye West and his statement about 400 years of slavery.  It is a mashup of “blowhard” (a braggart; big talker) and “asshole” (jerk).  Blowhole has a nice rhyming ring to it, don’t you think?  I wonder who else fits this description…. Knowing the speaker, she may have been recalling her visit to Hawaii when she said this.   A big thanks to Leslie Geier for unintentionally blurting this one out and sharing it.

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

He gets a clean bill of goods

Posted: April 30, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This was heard on MSNBC’s Hard Ball, and uttered by the new “Master of Malaphors”, Chris Matthews (I think I have posted at least four from this guy).  It is a nice mashup of “”sold a bill of goods” (deceive someone) and “clean bill of health” (a report confirming the absence of fault in a person or thing).  “Bill” is the commonality here.  Not sure if Chris is having a few martinis before each show, but if so, I hope he continues.  A big thanks to Super Malaphor Hunter Mike Kovacs for hearing this one! @hardballChris

(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.

 

Let’s not get ahead of our skis

Posted: April 26, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Senator Cory Booker uttered this malaphor on MSNBC’s The Chris Hayes Show.  He was talking about the Mueller investigation:

“Um, look, I’m one of those folks that says let’s go where the evidence leads,” he said. “Right now we have a special counsel that is doing a thorough investigation. Let’s not get ahead of our skis. Let’s make sure we support this special counsel’s investigation.”  https://www.mediaite.com/tv/chris-hayes-comes-right-out-and-asks-it-in-interview-with-cory-booker-is-trump-a-criminal/

This is a mixture of “out over his skis” (get ahead of yourself) and “ahead of the curve” (leading in something).  The two phrases are close in meaning and are both referring to leading in front.  It appears the phrase “out over your skis” originated in the finance world.  See this article for more on the origin: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2012/05/where-did-the-phrase-over-his-skis-come-from.html

A big thanks to Frank King for hearing this one and passing it on!

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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