Boiled to a head
Posted: November 28, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: boiled over, come to a boil, come to a head, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, SBNation, words 2 CommentsThis one comes from the sports world. Here’s the full context: “Sunday’s Bills-Jaguars game started off tense when Jalen Ramsey took time from his busy day to remind Buffalo’s players they were trash. That conflict boiled to a head in the third quarter when a brawl erupted on the turf at New Era Field.” Here’s the citation: https://www.sbnation.com/2018/11/25/18111422/jaguars-bills-fight-leonard-fournette-shaq-lawson.
This is a nice conflation of “boiled over” (to become extremely intense or out of control) and “come to a head” (to reach a point of intensity at which action must be taken). “Come to a boil” (to reach a crucial point) is also probably in the mix considering the context. A boil on the skin has a “head” of sorts and so could have been in the writer’s mind. A big thanks to Barry Eigen for spotting this one!
You can look it up in your Strunk and Wagnalls
Posted: November 26, 2018 Filed under: WORD BLENDS | Tags: expressions, Funk and Wagnalls, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, Strunk and White, WORD BLENDS, words Leave a commentNot quite Rowan and Martin. The submitter’s wife uttered this nice word blend, which is a conflation of “Funk and Wagnalls” (dictionary/encyclopedia) and “Strunk and White” (American English writing style guide). The Funk/Strunk rhyming is obviously the culprit here. A big thanks to Martin Pietrucha for hearing this one and sending it in.
If you want to look up “malaphors”, purchase the malaphor book, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, on Amazon. Makes a great stocking stuffer (or fire starter).
It’s petering down
Posted: November 19, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, Heidi Przybyla, humor, idioms, language, malaphors, Morning Joe, MSNBC, petering out, Trump, winding down, words Leave a commentNo, this was not said in an erectile dysfunction commercial, but rather by Heidi Przybyla on MSNBC’s Morning Joe the other day. She was talking about the Mueller investigation. It is a congruent conflation of “petering out” and “winding down”, both meaning to slowly come to a conclusion or end. Another tip of the hat to Frank King for spotting this one. He has the ears of a hawk.
Trump sees a window and he’s taking it
Posted: November 16, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, John Cassidy, language, Lawfare, malaphor, malaphors, sees an opening, Susan Hennessey, Trump, window of opportunity, words Leave a comment
The President is using his bully pit to create questions on our elections
Posted: November 16, 2018 Filed under: WORD BLENDS | Tags: bully pulpit, expressions, malaphor, malaphors, Maria Teresa Kumar, MSNBC, pit bull, Trump, words 1 CommentThis gem was uttered by Maria Teresa Kumar on MSNBC’s Last Word on November 12, 2018. Is it a malaphor? I think it is a malaphor word blend of “bully pulpit” (a public position that allows a person to share his views with a large audience) and “pit bull” (an aggressive and tenacious person). The latter defines the subject and the former was the intended idiom to be used. A big thank you to James Kozlowski for hearing this one and sharing it.
It’s on a slippery scale
Posted: November 5, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphors, sliding scale, slippery slope, The View, wordplay, words Leave a commentThis one was uttered on the t.v. show The View. The contributor was sitting in a doctor’s office and heard it on the t.v. that was above her head. This is a nice mashup of “slippery slope” (a behavior or action will lead to a worse form of the same behavior or action) and “sliding scale” (a system in which the rate at which something is paid changes as a result of other condition). “Slopes” and “scales” are six letter words starting with s and sound somewhat similar, which I think is the cause of this malaphor. Both phrases also describe something that changes as a result of another action. A big thanks to Vicki Ameel-Kovacs for hearing this one and passing it on. She has the ears of a hawk!
We’re going to leave nothing uncovered
Posted: October 29, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: cnn, Donald Trump, expressions, humor, language, leave no stone unturned, leave nothing to chance, malaphor, malaphors, words Leave a commentThis one comes from Donald Trump, explaining how he’s going to thoroughly investigate the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi. It is a great mash up of “leave no stone unturned” (to look for something in every possible place) and “leave nothing to chance” (to allow nothing to be settled by chance) or perhaps also “uncover the truth.” The added bonus here is that his mash up manages to mean exactly the opposite of what he intended.
Here is the link: https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/15/politics/trump-saudi-king-tweet/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0oO6TcAWywTPU6JF2RHzKe-sT4Om1yrgqoQe3HHCvX73Xayfp44icHKSI
A big thanks to David Barnes for spotting this one and sending it in.
Not to put too fine a brush on it
Posted: October 25, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: humor, Joe Scarborough, language, malaphors, Morning Joe, MSNBC, not to put too fine a point, paint with a broad brush, words 1 CommentHeard on Morning Joe by Joe himself. It is a mashup of “put too fine a point on it” (to belabor or exaggerate the importance of some point or detail), and “paint (something) with a broad brush” (describe something in general or vague terms). Brushes can indeed be fine, hence the mixup. A big thanks to Frank King for spotting yet another malaphor in the wilds of MSNBC.
He’s barking up the wrong horse
Posted: October 22, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: backing the wrong horse, barking up the wrong tree, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, words Leave a commentThis one was almost uttered and then held back, apparently realizing it was wrong. It is a nice mashup of “barking up the wrong tree” (to attempt a futile course of action) and “backing the wrong horse” (to support a person in an effort that fails). Both phrases involve failure, and “barking” and “backing” sound and look similar, hence the mix up. Also, the word “wrong” is in each idiom, contributing to the mental hiccup. As I have posted previously, idioms involving horses for some reason are frequently mixed up, causing malaphors. Go to the Malaphors web page and search “horse”. You will find a treasure trove of malaphors. As Kramer would say, “Giddyup!” A big thanks to John Kooser for almost belching out this one.
She was threading that line in the Trump Administration
Posted: October 20, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, Kathleen Parker, language, malaphor, malaphors, MSNBC, Nikki Haley, thread the needle, toe the line, Trump, words 1 CommentKathleen Parker from the Washington Post uttered this one on MSNBC (the malaphor channel), talking about Nikki Haley. It is a conflation of “toeing the line” (adhering to the rules of something) and “threading the needle” (pass something through a narrow space between two things). Both idioms make sense in context, and perhaps Ms. Parker’s malaphor is really an economical way of expressing two ideas at once. A big thanks to Jim Kozlowski for hearing this one and passing it on.
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