Watch my words

Posted: January 7, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Boomer Esiason said this one on the NFL pre-game show last week.  It is a nice congruent conflation of “mark my words” and “read (or watch) my lips”, both meaning to pay attention or listen very carefully.  This is similar to last February’s malaphor, “read my words”, involving the same mash-up.  https://malaphors.com/2015/02/13/read-my-words-houston-does-not-get-out-of-the-first-round-this-year/.  Both malaphors harken back to the George H.W. Bush era – “Read my lips.  No new taxes.”  A big thanks to that frequent malaphor contributor Steve Grieme!

You’re pretty well-grounded

Posted: January 5, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: WORD BLENDS | Tags: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

This a nice malaphor word blend of “grounded” (sensible) and “well-rounded” (having desirably varied abilities).  Perhaps the speaker meant to meld the two meanings into a new word, but probably just mixed rounded and grounded, which is easy to do.  A big thanks to my cousins from Down Under, Manny Manatakis for uttering this gem and Gemma Martinez for hearing it and passing it on.

Something really struck out.

Posted: December 29, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
This was spoken by Pitkin County (Colorado) Deputy District Attorney Andrea Bryan on the CBS program 48 Hours in reference to a piece of evidence in the murder investigation of Aspen, CO socialite Nancy Pfister.   It is a mash up of “stuck out” (noticable) and “struck me” ((come to mind suddenly).  Kudos to that Merry Malaphor Maniac, Mike Kovacs, who said that nobody “struck out” on the recording and reporting of this gem.

I just dozed out for a second

Posted: December 21, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The speaker was indicating she actually wasn’t asleep.  This is a mash up of “dozed off” (fall into a light sleep) and “zoned out” (to lose concentration or become inattentive).  The confusion seems to lie in the words off and out, and the letter z both in zone and doze.   A big thanks to Becca Christine for saying this one and Kevin Hatfield for passing it on!

The RNC has to thread the line carefully when dealing with Trump

Posted: December 15, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This gem was overheard on MSNBC.  Correspondent Katy Tur was commenting on the Republican National Committee (RNC) walking a tight rope with respect to Donald Trump, and ended by uttering this malaphor.  It is a congruent conflation of “thread the needle” and “walk a fine line”, both meaning to strike a balance between conflicting or different forces.  Perhaps she was thinking of threading a fishing line?  A big thank you to Louis Mande for hearing this one and passing it along.

Katy Tur Twitter Avatar

We are only seeing one side of this iceberg

Posted: December 13, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Marykathryn has done it again.  She was discussing a very contentious legal case with her husband.  The more they dug the more they found out about their client.  She finally turned to her husband and said,  ” Honey, we are only seeing one side of this iceberg”.   This is a mash up of “the tip of the iceberg” (a small part of something much larger) and I think “the dark side (of someone)” (the negative and hidden aspect of someone), given the context.   This is the second malaphor referring to icebergs.  See “we’ve barely scratched the tip of the iceberg” (9/19/13).  https://malaphors.com/2013/01/19/we-barely-scratched-the-tip-of-the-iceberg/   A big thank you to Marykathryn Kopec who keeps giving me material!

You’re not the brightest toolbox in the shed

Posted: December 7, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

While talking to his cat (everyone does that, right?), malaphor follower Ian told him “You’re not the brightest toolbox in the shed.”  As usual, I’m sure Ian’s cat looked at him like HE was the idiot.   This is a triple congruent conflation of “not the sharpest tool in the shed”, “not the sharpest (or brightest) crayon in the box”, and “not the brightest bulb in the chandelier (or “not the brightest”), all meaning someone who is not very intelligent.  Other similar idioms include “not the sharpest knife in the drawer”, “he’s one fry short of a Happy Meal”, “the elevator doesn’t go to the top floor”, and my personal favorite, “somewhere there’s a village missing its idiot”.

Finally, this malaphor is similar to my June 24, 2013 posting, “not the brightest tool in the shed”.  https://malaphors.com/2013/06/24/not-the-brightest-tool-in-the-shed/  Thanks to Ian for sending this one in!

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That train has sailed

Posted: November 13, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: ACTION, sail, train, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

This is a congruent conflation of “that ship has sailed” and “that train has left the station”, both meaning the act has already been done.  It was said by Austin Powers in the movie Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery, when he was speaking to a drunk Vanessa:

She was very groovy.
Your dad loved her very much.
If there was one other cat in this world that could have loved her and treated her as well as your dad then it was me.
But unfortunately for yours truly that train has sailed.
Vanessa?
Vanessa? Hello?

A big thanks to Sam Edelmann for hearing this one.  Oh behave!

 

An omnichannel approach blurs the waters

Posted: November 9, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: FOOD, Uncategorized, water | Tags: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment
Here’s this one in context:
“Where an omnichannel approach blurs the waters is looking at the user-first approach across the landscape of all the devices the customer uses to achieve a task. In doing so, omnichannel compromises the agendas of business silos and industry trends such as mobile-first, since consumers and their needs drive any approach.”
This is a congruent conflation of “muddy the waters” and “blur the distinction”, both meaning to confuse the issue.  This is a particularly good one as “muddy” and “blur” have similar meanings and sounds.  And who can forget that great blues artist, Blurry Waters?  A big thank you to Marcia Johnston for seeing this one and passing it on.  As she said to me, given the context, “this water sure looks muddy and blurry to me!”

He has his act in order

Posted: October 30, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I heard this one on this week’s Monday Night Football game, uttered by the play by play announcer, Mike Tirico.  It is a mash up of “put one’s house in order” (put one’s personal or business affairs into good order) and “get one’s act together” (get organized or start to behave more appropriately).  I almost missed it as it is subtle and sounds almost correct, both signs of a great malaphor.

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