Put your best face forward

Posted: April 10, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The speaker was talking about the importance of translating marketing messages accurately into various languages, urging the viewers to “put your best face forward.”  This is a nice mashup of “put your best foot forward” (act or appear at your best, or to try and make a good impression) and “put a good face on” (To act as though a particular situation is not as undesirable or grim as it really is).  “Put a smile on someone’s face” (makes someone happy) might also be in play.  I believe this mix up is caused primarily by the word “put”, appearing in both idioms.  Also, the positive words “good” and “best” might also have contributed to the mental confusion.  Of course “foot” and “face” are both four letter words beginning with “f ” which might have taken the speaker down the malaphor path.  A big thanks to Marcia Johnston (author of “Word Up!” and “You Can Say That Again”) for hearing this one and passing it along!  Catch Marcia at http://www.writing.rocks if you enjoy writing!

Patience comes to those who wait

Posted: April 7, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Huh?  Good to know. This not so wise malaphor is thanks to Michael Schwartz on WBNG 12 News in Binghamton NY.  It is a mashup of “good things come to those who wait” (if you are patient you will get what you want) and “patience is a virtue” (it is good to be patient).  A big thanks to Nancy for hearing this one and sending it in!

Trump is not going to throw Paul Ryan over the bus

Posted: April 5, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Over/under is the culprit here.  This was heard by a Republican pundit speaking on CNN.  It is a nice mashup of “go over the cliff” (taking a drastic step) and “throw (someone) under the bus” (exploit someone’s trust for one’s own gain or purpose).  “Throw (someone) overboard” (get rid of excess baggage) might also be in the mix, as well as “over the edge” (excessive or out of control).  Given the statures of the persons named, it might be possible.  A big thanks to Ron McDonald for hearing this one and sending it in!

All I can do is not cry over sour milk

Posted: April 3, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This great quote comes from boxer Daniel “The Miracle Man” Jacobs in his recent fight with Gennady “GGG” Golovkin.  At the end of the fight, Jacobs discussed his loss, and said “all I can do is not cry over sour milk and continue to move forward.”  Video clip is below.  This is a mash up of “don’t cry over spilled milk” (don’t be upset over something that can’t be fixed) and “sour grapes”(disparaging what one cannot obtain).  The speaker must have been thinking about that time he went to put milk on his cereal and the milk had turned sour, way beyond the expiration date.  That has happened to me a few times, and yes I did cry.

Speaking of the idiom “sour grapes”, it comes from the Greek writer Aesop’s famous fable about a fox that cannot reach some grapes on a high vine and announces that they are sour. In English the fable was first recorded in William Caxton’s 1484 translation, “The fox said these raisins be sour.”   A tip of the hat to Mike Ameel for hearing this one and passing it on, and to Susan Ameel for properly deconstructing the malaphor!

 

Like two trains crossing in the night

Posted: April 1, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In Louisville’s newspaper, the Courier-Journal, there was a story about a Tennessee basketball player and her father. ” So father and daughter have missed each other on this trip, as they do often, ‘like two trains crossing in the night,’ Diamond said. ”

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/louisville/2017/03/19/dad-daughter-bond-fuels-tennessees-deshields/99379800/

As the contributor noted, this might be a three way mix of “two ships passing in the night” (individuals who are rarely in the same place at the same time), “crossing paths” (to meet someone by chance), and “strangers on a train” (not really an idiom but a Hitchcock movie).  Certainly one from Louisville might be thinking of trains more than ships, given its location.  A big thanks to Emerson for seeing this one and sending it on!

I feel like a sore thumb

Posted: March 31, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This beauty is from the opening scene in the movie, “Get Out”.  In what appears to be an homage to “Halloween”, a young black guy is lost and walking in a suburban area looking for an address. Obviously he’s in a white suburb. In just about the first lines of the movie he says “I feel like a sore thumb”, apparently describing his inner feelings. It is a mashup of “stick out like a sore thumb” (to be easily noticed as different) and “feel out of place” (awkward and unwelcome).  The resulting malaphor is a better description of his feelings – both knowing he is different and also unwelcome.  A huge thanks to John Costello for hearing this one and immediately reporting it!

Want to see other malaphors in movies?  Check out my book, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, where an entire chapter is devoted to movie mashups.   Available on Amazon today for a cheap $6.99! http://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205

Push the trigger

Posted: March 30, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment
This one was said by Chris Matthews (“Hardball”) regarding Trump vs. Kim Jong-un, and what would cause one of them to react.  It’s a nice mashup of I think “have a finger on the button” (the person who controls nuclear weapons) and “pull the trigger” (commit to a certain course of action), given the context.  “Push the right button” or “push somebody’s buttons” (doing exactly  the right thing to get the result you want) might also be in the mix, as well as “press the panic button” (to overreact to a negative situation), again given the context.  “Push” and “pull” are the culprits here.  A big thanks to “My Ol’ Pal” (MOP) Beatrice Zablocki for hearing this and sending it in.  Readers of my book and followers of this blog might also know MOP as she has given much guidance to me on malaphor interpretations over the years.  I also dedicated my book, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, (available on Amazon!) to her.

That’s no shirt off my nose

Posted: March 28, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This was uttered by Joe Salerno, who apparently rivaled “The Master” (see my book, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors” available on Amazon, regarding the amazing “Master”) in unintended idiom mixups.  This is just one of them.  Joe had a PhD in English from the University of Michigan so it just goes to show you that everyone coughs up a few malaphors now and again.  This one is a mashup of “that’s no skin off my nose”  (not harmful or bothersome to me) and “give the shirt off my back” (to give anything that is asked for, no matter the sacrifice).  The common words “off my” and the similar sounds of “skin” and “shirt” are culprits here.  Certainly one can rub a nose when taking off a shirt, and that vision might have popped up in the speaker’s mind.   A big thanks to Robert J. Smith for sending this one in and relating stories about the infamous Joe Salerno.  Also a shout out to Joe Rich for appreciating the Joe Salerno malaphors and spreading the good word (or idiom?).

Reading between the tea leaves

Posted: March 27, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

This one is straight out of the mouth of senior congressional correspondent Manu Raju on CNN’s Inside Politics, discussing who knew what about connections between Russia and the Trump campaign:

And then I asked Schiff the same question. He said he’s not willing to go there. So the question is perhaps is there any intelligence in that regard that they’re not sharing with the committee. With that — we don’t know that yet but reading between the tea leaves that suggests that. The question is the independent prosecutor, that’s something that Schiff called for yesterday.   http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1703/03/ip.02.html

This is a nice subtle mashup of “reading the tea leaves” (predicting on little bits of information) and “reading between the lines” ((perceiving an obscure or unexpressed meaning).  Both idioms pertain to perceiving or predicting, and both contain the word “reading”.   “Lines” and “leaves” are also similar sounding words.  A shout out to Barbara Artuso for hearing this one and sending it in!

We’re back to square zero

Posted: March 24, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This nice malaphor was heard on Season 1 Episode 2 of Cold Case Files; “Killing on Christmas Eve”.
22:39 into episode.   Video is below.  It’s a congruent conflation of “back to square one” and “ground zero”, both meaning starting place or at the beginning.  This is a bookend of a previous posting, “starting from ground one”, posted in 2012.  https://malaphors.com/2012/11/07/starting-from-ground-one/.  Both idioms have numbers – zero and one – contributing to the confusion.  many thanks to Mike Ameel for hearing this one, sharing it, and sending me the video to prove it!  This is not fake news, folks.

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →