We pulled out all the strings
Posted: August 20, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Cedric the Entertainer, humor, idioms, Kristen Chenoweth, language, malaphors, pull the strings, pulled out all the stops, The Greatest #AtHome Videos, words Leave a commentThis was heard on the CBS tv show “The Greatest #AtHome Videos”. Cedric the Entertainer teamed with Kristen Chenoweth to surprise a group of young performers. One of the performers uttered this nice malaphor. You can hear it here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=785249305547779
It is a mashup of “pull out all the stops” (to do someting with maximum effort or ability) and “pull the strings” (to be in control of events or some other people’s actions). “Pulled on our heart strings” might also be in the mix. “Pull” is the common denominator here, and “strings” and “stops” are also similar sounding words, adding to the confusion. A big thanks to Lou Pugliese who heard this one and passed it on.
I know where the skeletons are buried
Posted: August 14, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Disloyal, expressions, humor, know where all the bodies are buried, language, malaphor, malaphors, Michael Cohen, skeletons in the closet, Trump, words Leave a commentThis perfectly formed malaphor is found in the foreward to Michael Cohen’s soon to be released tell all book, “Disloyal”. Here is the context:
“Trump has no true friends. He has lived his entire life avoiding and evading taking responsibility for his actions. He crushed or cheated all who stood in his way, but I know where the skeletons are buried because I was the one who buried them.” https://www.foxnews.com/politics/michael-cohen-trump-disloyal-skeletons
This is a conflation of “know where (all) the bodies are buried” (to know secret or scandalous information about a person or group) and “have skeletons in (one’s) the closet” (to have damaging or incriminating secrets from one’s past). Both idioms involve secrets and damaging information, and both involve dead bodies, hence the mixup. This mashup is actually brilliant in that it incorporates damaging information and where to get the damaging information all in one terrific malaphor.
A big thanks to Mike Kovacs, Chief Malaphor Hunter, for spotting this one in plain sight. Bravo.
The genie is out of the box
Posted: July 29, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, genie out of the bottle, humor, language, malaphors, Pandora's box, words Leave a commentThis is a nice bookend to another malaphor recently posted, “the genie is out of the bag” – https://malaphors.com/2020/06/17/the-genie-is-out-of-the-bag/. It is also similar to “we can’t put the genie back in the box”, another malaphor posted on this site. https://malaphors.com/2016/04/11/we-cant-put-the-genie-back-in-the-box/. “The genie is out of the box” was uttered on CNN recently and also appears in an Axios article:
“We think the model has long-term viability,” says Barbieri. “The next California wildfire or earthquake or hurricane… now that the genie is out of the box, it’s never going back.”
It is a mash up of “the genie is out of the bottle” (something has been done that cannot be changed) and “opening Pandora’s box” (doing something that causes a lot of unexpected problems). Both involve mythical creatures that cause trouble. Also, opening Pandora’s box has a similar meaning to letting the genie out of the bottle. Both are impossible to close once opened. I also think the mix up is caused by the containers themselves – getting things from boxes and bottles. It’s possible a jack-in-the-box was also on the speaker/writer’s mind. A tip of the hat to Ginny Justice who heard this one and passed it on.
The Chinese are spending multiple billions of dollars trying to own the technology of the future while we sit with our thumb in our ear
Posted: July 13, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: close your ears, cover your ears, expressions, humor, Joe Biden, language, malaphors, thumb up our ass, words Leave a commentDemocratic presidential nominee Joe Biden uttered this one in his speech last week in Dunmore, PA. I believe this is a body part mashup of “close your ears (to something)” or “fingers in your ears” (ignore something) and “have (one’s) thumb up (one’s) ass” (not doing what you should be doing). Not sure this one was on the teleprompter. If not, perhaps Joe changed his mind mid- phrase when he was about to utter the word “ass”. You can find the quote here: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/09/joe-biden-economic-plan-355416
A big thanks to Fred Martin and Beatrice Zablocki for both catching this one live and sending a quick email to me. I have a feeling that the next few months will bring an abundance of malaphors. Keep your eyes and ears peeled!
We stemmed that curve
Posted: July 10, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Chris Hayes, flatten the curve, humor, language, Lena Hidalgoo, malaphors, stem the tide, words Leave a comment
She’s the last person on the totem pole
Posted: July 8, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Fred Allen, H. Allen Smith, humor, language, low man on the totem pole, malaphors, words 1 CommentThe humorist H. Allen Smith used this phrase as the title of a book (1941) after the radio comedian Fred Allen had used the term to describe him in an introduction to an earlier book. The position on an actual totem pole bu the way, has no such signficiance. Nevertheless, the term caught on quickly enough to become a cliche.
Introducing my new Malaphor book: “Things Are Not Rosy-Dory: Malaphors From Politicians and Pundits”
Posted: July 3, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, malaphors, Things are not Rosy-Dory, words Leave a comment
Things kind of petered off
Posted: June 8, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, petered out, tapered off, words Leave a commentThis unfortunately comes from a sad passage in an article about Covid-19 deaths, but it’s a malaphor nonetheless. Here’s the sentence: “And then things kind of petered off a little bit in those areas, and now we’re kind of seeing it getting closer and wondering when we’re gonna have to deal with this. But again, we’re preparing for it as best as we can in the hospitals that I’m working for.” This is a congruent conflation of “petered out” and “tapered off”, both meaning to diminish gradually and then stop. Here’s the link to the article: https://link.esquire.com/view/5976491c487ccd1f468b4eedc874i.3ql/6cadebe4
A special thanks to Barry Eigen for spotting this one, and for his wise counsel about not posting a descriptive picture of this malaphor.
It’s nerve curdling
Posted: May 4, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blood-curdling, covid-19, humor, idioms, language, malaphor, malaphors, nerve-racking, Rachel Maddow, words 2 Comments
That tops the cake
Posted: April 29, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: cake topper, expressions, humor, idioms, malaphor, malaphors, takes the cake, tops them all, words Leave a commentThe contributor’s mom said this one. It is a congruent conflation of “takes the cake” and “tops them all”, both meaning to win or be the most outstanding in some respect. My guess is that the speaker was also thinking of a cake topper. A big thanks to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one from his Mom and sending it in.
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