I can’t keep my eyes awake
Posted: April 16, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, keep your eyes open, language, malaphor, malaphors, peeled, stay awake, words 2 CommentsThe Mistress of Malaphors, Naomi David, strikes again with this gem uttered in a sleep deprived state. This is a combo of “keep one’s eyes open” (watchful and observant) and “wide awake” (fully alert) or “stay awake”. The picture below demonstrates the fine art of keeping one’s eyes awake. Keep ’em coming, Naomi! Thanks to Katie Hatfield for sending this one in!
I can’t put all my chickens in one basket
Posted: April 11, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: chicken, chicken basket, don't count your chickens before they hatch, eggs in one basket, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 2 CommentsWhich came first: the chicken or the egg? Seems like a difficult question given the amount of malaphors posted on this site involving barnyard animals and their offspring ( e.g., all your eggs lined up, too many eggs spoil the soup, and don’t count your chickens before they come home to roost, to name just a few). This beauty is a mash up of “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” (don’t make everything dependent on one thing) and “don’t count your chickens before they hatch” (don’t expect something before it happens). The speaker may have also been hungry and thinking of a chicken basket. Yum. Chicken in a basket used to be a pub favorite in England. Thanks to Jody Compton for hearing this one uttered by the wonderful actress Lara Hayhurst Compton!
Let’s not open up that can of bees
Posted: April 10, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: can of worms, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, Robyn Hitchcock, stirring up a hornet's nest, The Soft Boys, words Leave a commentThis gem was heard at a meeting. It might be a mix of “opening up a can of worms” (getting into a set of difficult problems) and “stirring up a bees’ (or hornet’s) nest (create a lot of problems). I think opening up a can of beer might also be in this one, as opening up a can usually leads to a beer, and bee is just one letter shy. It’s also the title of a 1970s record by The Soft Boys. The Soft Boys were fronted by the great Robyn Hitchcock, as those who have any memory left from the 70s will recall. A big thanks to Michael Ameel for hearing this one and sending it in!
He’s a black horse in all of this
Posted: April 7, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: black sheep, dark horse, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentThis beauty (black?) was recently heard on the t.v. show “Dancing With the Stars”, as the speaker was describing a contestant who was not favored to win the competition. The malaphor is a mix of “dark horse” (a potential winner even though not the favorite) and “black sheep” (a disreputable or unloved family member). The confusion is with dark/black and animals – horses and sheep, as the idioms are incongruent. Thanks to Jack Chandler for sending this one in!
This condo is a golden goose egg
Posted: April 4, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, gold mine, goose egg, humor, kill the goose that laid the golden egg, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, wordplay, words Leave a commentThe speaker was getting ready to put his condo in DC on the market and thought that he can get a lot of money from the sale. He then referred to his condo as the “golden goose egg.” This is an incongruent conflation with opposite meanings – “kill the goose that laid the golden egg” (destroy riches through stupidity), “golden egg” (rich) and “goose egg” (zero). “Sitting on a gold mine” (having something very valuable) is probably the expression the speaker meant to say, but then that big golden goose appeared in his mind and the rest was conflation. This one is good as gold, and my thanks to Sid Sher for sending it in!
The client is one of those hard-moving targets
Posted: April 2, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, hard to hit, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, moving target, words Leave a commentThis is a congruent conflation of “hard to hit” and “a moving target”, both describing something elusive. The mixture creates the opposite – something that is stationary. A big thanks to Tess Marie for sending this one in!
I’m going to give him a taste of my mind!
Posted: April 1, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, piece of my mind, taste of his own medicine, wordplay, words 2 CommentsSo there! This gem was overheard in a restaurant. The speaker was not happy with the way his food was prepared, so he proceeded to utter this mash up of “piece of one’s mind” (frank and severe criticism) and “a taste of one’s own medicine” (retaliation or repayment). “Taste” must have been on his mind given the venue. I wonder what the mind tastes like? A shout out to David Stephens for sending this one in!
It’s the 800 pound elephant in the room
Posted: March 30, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 800 pound gorilla, elephant, elephant in the room, elephants, expressions, gorilla, gorillas, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, NPR, wordplay, words 1 CommentElephants and gorillas don’t mix, yet this malaphor is an exception. This was heard on the NPR show “to the Best of Our Knowledge”. Charles Monroe Cain was interviewing former navy pilot and drone developer Missy Cummings from Duke. He asked her about “the 800 pound elephant in the room.” This is a conflation of “the 800 pound gorilla (dominant force that cannot be ignored) and “the elephant in the room” (a truth that cannot be ignored). Bottom line is that you can’t ignore a gorilla OR an elephant. This elephant mix up thing seems pretty common – see prior postings on pink elephants and white elephants. A trumpeting thank you to eagle eared malaphor hunter Yvonne Stam for sending this one in!
You better buckle down; it’s going to be awhile
Posted: March 28, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: buckle up, expressions, humor, hunker down, language, malaphor, malaphors, words Leave a commentContext is important in this one. The speaker was attending a wedding and counting the hours until midnight. This is a mash up of “buckle up” (get ready) and “hunker down” (to stay in a place). The malaphor illustrates the common mix-up of directions (up, down) seen frequently in other postings on this site. Thanks to Trey Compton for sending this one in!
I was slapped down with a little humble pie
Posted: March 27, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Buffalo Bills, eat humble pie, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, New York Jets, Rex Ryan, slapped down, Toronto Sun, words Leave a commentThis crazy malaphor mixes “slap (someone) down” (to rebuke or rebuff someone) and “eat humble pie” (meek admission or mea culpa). The Toronto Sun quoted Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan responding to the question of whether he feels rejuvenated coaching a different team:
“I’m back, there’s no question about it. I was slapped down with a little humble pie there (with the New York Jets). It was tough … embarrassing.” Bills coach Rex Ryan
Interesting origin to the phrase “humble pie” – The “humble pie” that we eat when we make a misjudgment or outright error was originally “umble” pie made from the intestines of other less appetizing animal parts. Servants and other lower-class people ate them, as opposed to bettercuts. “Umble” became “humble” over the years until eating that pie came to mean expressing a very meek mea culpa. A similar phrase is “eat crow,” the bird being as unpalatable a dish as one’s own words. From the Free Dictionary.
A big thank you to John Costello for sending this one in!
Malaphors 
Recent Comments