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!
Sometimes we clash heads
Posted: November 4, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: idioms, malaphors, pizza, wordplay, words Leave a commentThis was heard on the You Tube video, “Meet the Krispy Pizza Kings of New York”. Here is the link to the video:
This is a congruent conflation of “clash with (someone or something)” and “butt heads”, both meaning to disagree with someone. A huge shout out to Martin Pietrucha for hearing this one and sending it in!
Donald Trump is the white elephant in the room
Posted: November 1, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: humor, malaphors, mixed idioms, MSNBC, Trump Leave a commentWilliam Cohen, who served as both a Republican U.S. Representative as well as a U.S Senator and Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton, said this malaphor on the MSNBC show The Beat with Ari Melber on October 23, nine days ago. It is a mashup of “elephant in the room” (obvious truth that is either being ignored or going unaddressed) and “white elephant” (a burdensome possession whose costs outweigh its value). While I have posted this one before (September 6, 2012), it is too good to pass up.
“The elephant in the room” seems to be a common expression mix-up. For example, I have posted:
“It’s the 800 pound elephant in the room” https://malaphors.com/2015/03/30/its-the-800-pound-elephant-in-the-room/
“I think that’s the pink elephant in the room” https://malaphors.com/2013/08/07/i-think-thats-the-pink-elephant-in-the-room/
In fact, I have a separate section devoted to the “elephant malaphor” in my book, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, available on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205
A big thanks to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one and sending it in!
Over the rails
Posted: June 23, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, malaphors, words Leave a commentABC’s Martha Raddatz reporting on the upcoming Biden-Putin summit: “if they can come out together, if it doesn’t go out over the rails, that is some sign of success”. This is a congruent conflation of “off the rails” and “over the edge” both meaning to be out of control or excessive. A big thank you to Steve Grieme for hearing this one!
Straight off the hip
Posted: June 14, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: malaphors, words Leave a commentThis is a rare “tri-form” malaphor uttered by Jonah Johnston in the show, “7 Little Johnstons”. Jonah was talking about the sports podcast he and his two friends started. Here’s the clip:
This is a triple mashup, consisting of “straight from the heart” (with deep sincerity), “right off the bat” (immediately), and “shoot from the hip” (to speak rashly without considering the consequences). “Straight off the bat” is a valid idiom (see Free Dictionary), but I submit an uncommon one and probably not in the speaker’s mind. The above three seem to be swirling around in Jonah’s brain. A huge thank you to Mike Kovacs for hearing this unicorn.
It’s all peaches and roses
Posted: March 5, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: humor, idioms, language, malaphors, words Leave a commentRetired Los Angeles Police Homicide Detective Greg Kading uttered this one on Season 1, Episode 1 of the Netflix series Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel. It’s a nice congruent conflation of “peaches and cream” and “a bed of roses”, both describing an easy, comfortable situation. This one is reminiscent of an earlier post, “four more years of fun and roses”. https://malaphors.com/2020/10/23/four-more-years-of-fun-and-roses/
A big thank you to Vicki and Mike Kovacs for sending this one in.
That ship has flown
Posted: March 2, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: humor, idioms, language, malaphors, words Leave a commentThe speaker was playing an online board game and made a comment about how it was too late for anyone else to win the game. She then uttered this nice malaphor. It is a mashup of “that ship has sailed” (some possiblity ot option is no longer available or likely) and “fly the coop” (to leave or escape (something)). This one is similar to the Austin Powers’ malaphor I posted a few years ago: “That train has sailed.” https://malaphors.com/2015/11/13/that-train-has-sailed/ Transportation mixups.
A tip of the hat to Andy Jacobs for hearing this one and passing it on! Thank you Andy!
It was earth-changing
Posted: February 19, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: humor, idioms, language, life-changing, malaphors, words Leave a commentABC’s 20/20 aired an episode about a woman’s fraudulent fiance. He told her they were to be married by the Pope and their guests at the wedding mass could include their gay friends and that the gay friends could receive communion. The friend then uttered this great malaphor. Here is the video snippet:
This is a congruent conflation of “earth-shattering/shaking” and “life-changing” , both meaning something having a powerful effect. Maybe also thoughts about climate change going on in the speaker’s head? A tip of the hat to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one and sending it in.
Just by the nick of the hair
Posted: February 3, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: by a hair, humor, idioms, in the nick of time, malaphors Leave a commentHeard this one today on The Price is Right. A contestant said this after spinning the big wheel with the arrow barely landing on the right amount. This is a congruent conflation of “just in the nick of time” and “by a hair”, both describing an extremely slim or short margin. A big thanks to Elaine Hatfield for hearing this one and yelling it to me upstairs.
The inmates are going to be running this ship
Posted: January 27, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: asylum, humor, Jon Tester, malaphors, Politico, rats, ship Leave a commentSenator Jon Tester (D-Mont) was talking about McConnell’s demand that the Democrats promise to keep the filibuster intact. Tester noted that the Democrats are now in the majority and should not accede to McConnell’s demand. Here is the quote:
“Chuck Schumer is the majority leader and he should be treated like majority leader. We can get sh** done around here and we ought to be focused on getting stuff done,” said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.). “If we don’t, the inmates are going to be running this ship.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/21/democrats-mcconnell-filibuster-460967
This is a mashup of “the inmates are running the asylum” (the people least capable of running an organization are now in charge) and I believe “rats leaving/deserting a sinking ship” (the least loyal people will be the first to abandon a project). My guess is that Tester thought of Republicans and then associated them with rats, activating this nice malaphor.
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