Nobody in the audience even blinched
Posted: January 5, 2017 Filed under: WORD BLENDS | Tags: blinked, expressions, flinched, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, words 4 CommentsThis nice word blend of “blinked” and “flinched” was uttered in a unique conversation. My friend Martin Pietrucha, who contributed the 2016 malaphor of the year (MOTY) “give them a round of hand”, was telling his mother-in-law about his MOTY award, and said that after the guy made the “round of hand” remark nobody in the audience, besides Martin, even “blinched”. Not sure what a malaphor about a malaphor is called. It’s almost like seeing a double rainbow. Any ideas out there? Anyway, a big round of hand to Martin Pietrucha for blurting this one out.
Welcome to my shoes
Posted: January 2, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, I'd walk a mile in his shoes, language, malaphor, malaphors, welcome to my world, words Leave a commentI am starting 2017 with a bang with one of the best malaphors ever uttered. It appeared in an article in the Atlantic entitled, “If not Obamacare, Then What?” and contains interviews with Trump voters in rural Pennsylvania. One person who owns a hair salon was complaining of the rise in premiums on Pennsylvania’s Obamacare exchange. Frustrated with escalating premiums and deductibles, she said this malaphor. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/12/if-not-obamacare-then-what/511130/?utm_source=fbb
It is a congruent conflation of “welcome to my world” and “walk a mile in (someone’s) shoes”, both meaning to consider another person’s perspective or experiences. Kudos to Steve Kovacs who spotted this one and passed it on! An assist to Mike Kovacs for posting the article on Facebook where his brother promptly identified the perfectly formed malaphor.
Did you like this one? If so, check out THE book on malaphors, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, written by yours truly and available NOW on Amazon! Just click the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205
Are they all made on TV?
Posted: December 31, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: as seen on TV, expressions, humor, language, made in China, malaphor, malaphors, words Leave a commentThe speaker asked this question after browsing in Target. It is a mash up of “Made in China” and “As Seen on TV”. My guess is that most items “Seen on TV” are made in China, but that is simply a guess. Many thanks to John Ries for uttering this gem and Kevin Hatfield for hearing it and passing it on!
Malaphor of the Year (2016): Let’s Give Them a Round of Hand!
Posted: December 27, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, words 2 Comments2016 was quite a busy year, with more malaphors posted than any other previous year. I still have quite a backlog but keep ’em coming.
There were many great ones this year, so it was very difficult to come up with a winner. Who can forget “Even a blind squirrel finds a nut twice a day” (posted March 13)? I am still wondering when this occurs. Also in the running was “hindsight is 50/50“, the last malaphor posted for 2016 (posted December 20). Seems that hindsight has been indeed 50/50 considering the revisionist history we see these days.
As this was an election year, malaphors continually spewed forth in the political world. Hillary Clinton said the beauty, “that’s the creme de la resistance” when discussing her time with her grandchildren (posted May 27). Sarah Palin uttered the word “squirmish” when referring to incidents between Arab countries (posted January 20). Donald Trump blurted out “things are not rosy-dory” (posted August 1) when discussing the current economy. Perhaps he had just seen Finding Dory?
But the one that struck me as the perfect malaphor was sent to me by an old friend. He was at a conference and he heard the master of ceremonies utter this beauty (drum roll please): “Let’s give them a round of hand!” (posted Novemeber 3). “Round of hand” not only is a great mix of “round of applause” and “give them a hand”, but conjures up that ubiquitous steamship round of beef found at the end of the buffet table. I also could hear myself easily saying this malaphor at some point. So here’s to another great year of malaphor hunting. Give all of yourselves a big round of hand!
Hindsight is 50/50
Posted: December 20, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 50/50, Cam Newton, expressions, hindsight is 20/20, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, words 1 CommentBased on some recent Monday morning quarterbacking in the political and sports worlds, I think this malaphor rings true. It is a nice mash up of “hindsight is 20/20” (things are clearer or more obvious when they are reflected upon) and “50/50” (equal or even). Numbers are sometimes confusing and past malaphors reflect that. For example, see “we were 3 sheets passing in the night” https://malaphors.com/2016/10/25/we-were-3-sheets-passing-in-the-night/. A big thanks to Eric Veres who heard his friend utter this beauty and passed it on!
This gem was also uttered by Cam Newton after the Super bowl loss. Note that he caught himself after saying the malaphor: “Hindsight is 50/50, or 20/20, whatever…” https://youtu.be/BBau6MRZSiE and http://saintsreport.com/forums/f2/n-s-cam-newton-post-game-hindsight-50-50-a-331672/#.WFlY_hsrLIU
We don’t want to go down those weeds
Posted: December 17, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: down that road, expressions, humor, in the weeds, language, malaphor, malaphors, words 1 CommentAt a technology presentation, the speaker referenced a certain topic but did not want to get sidetracked from the main area of subject matter, so he uttered this nice malaphor. It’s a mash up of “in the weeds” (preoccupied with the details) and “going down that road” (to decide to do something in a particular way). Weeds are often found on the sides of roads so the speaker may have been conjuring up an image of a littered highway. A big thanks to Mike Kovacs, Malaphor Hunter Extraordinaire, for hearing this one and sending it in.
What if we’re sitting on a golden goose?!
Posted: December 14, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, golden goose, goose that laid the golden egg, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, sitting on a goldmine, words Leave a commentA couple were chatting about a few big ideas when this malaphor was exclaimed. This is a nice congruent conflation of “golden goose” and “sitting on a goldmine”, both referring to something very valuable. One usually sits on a gold mine while the goose sits on the golden egg. But if one does decide to sit on a golden goose, it certainly would make him a wise quacker (and rich to boot). Many thanks to Joel Friend for saying this one and then sending it in.
It might not be a golden goose, but my book “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors” will give you enough laughs to be a very valuable read. It’s available on Amazon and very cheap. Be a wise quacker and get one today!
Everybody’s hearts were in their stomachs
Posted: December 13, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, hearts in their throats, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, pit of my stomach, words Leave a commentDuring the highlights of the Michigan – Ohio State game on TV, one of the commentators was talking about Tyler Durbin’s game-tying field-goal, and he said “everybody’s hearts were in their stomachs.” This is a nice mash-up of “hearts in their throats” (to be nervous or frightened) and “a bad feeling in the pit of their stomachs” (visceral response). Perhaps the commentator was also thinking of the phrase, “a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” (if you want a man to love you, feed him good food). In typing this malaphor on Google, I came across an article of a man whose heart was literally in his stomach. His picture is below. Many thanks to Martin Pietrucha for hearing this beauty and sending it on.
It’s not a cake in the walk
Posted: December 12, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: cakewalk, congruent conflation, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, walk in the park, words 2 CommentsA coworker left instructions to a friend for a difficult work task, and another coworker uttered this nice mixed idiom. It is a congruent conflation (the best kind of malaphor) of “a walk in the park” and “cakewalk”, both describing something that is easy to do or accomplish. Just be sure to not let the cake out in the rain. A big thanks to Josh Berry for hearing this one and passing it on!
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