It could happen at the drop of a pin
Posted: May 16, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: could hear a pin drop, drop of a hat, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, words Leave a commentThis malaphor was heard on the local Pittsburgh PBS show, “On Essential Pittsburgh”. It is a mash up of “at the drop of a hat” (immediately) and “(so quiet that) you could hear a pin drop” (extremely quiet). Drop is the shared word and the probably cause of the confusion. Kudos to Sally Adler for hearing this one and sending it in!
This clearly tops the cake
Posted: May 9, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, over the top, takes the cake, words Leave a commentThis beauty was spotted by Mike Browning in a local news channel website. The Virginia Delegate Mark Keam was discussing predatory towing and uttered this malaphor. It is a mash up of “it takes the cake” (extreme example, usually bad) and “over the top” (extremely overdone). A cake topping also comes to mind. Here is the link to the quote: http://www.wjla.com/articles/2015/04/predatory-towing-in-the-dmv-gone-in-60-seconds-113447.html. Thanks Mike for this one!
I was dead to the wind
Posted: May 6, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: dead to the world, expressions, gone with the wind, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentSteve Grieme, a frequent contributor to this blog, heard this one from his very exhausted wife after a late night dinner and early wake-up. It is a mash up of “dead to the world” (sound asleep) and “gone with the wind (disappeared or gone forever). Both expressions indicate a completeness. Isn’t dead to the wind a nautical term? A big thanks as always to Steve for keeping his ear to the grindstone for malaphors!
I’m not one to wave the drum for feminism too often
Posted: May 4, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: beat the drum, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, wave the flag, words Leave a commentIn the course of discussing workplace politics, the speaker uttered this gem. It is a perfect congruent conflation of “wave the flag” and “beat the drum”, both meaning to promote or support someone or something. Question for the day: if a drum is waved, will anyone hear it? A tip of the hat to Laura for sending this one in!
I worked my butt to the bone
Posted: May 1, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, Judge Judy, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words, worked my butt off, worked my fingers to the bone 2 CommentsI’ve heard “bad to the bone”, but “butt to the bone”? This hilarious, alliterative malaphor was uttered on a radio commercial promo for an upcoming Judge Judy show. It is a congruent conflation of “worked my butt off” and “worked my fingers to the bone”, both meaning to work extremely hard. Perhaps this should now be an expression used by workout trainers. A big thank you to Steve Grieme who heard this one and passed it on!
I know that area like the back of my neck
Posted: April 28, 2015 Filed under: BODY PARTS, hand, neck | Tags: back of my hand, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, neck of the woods, words 1 CommentIn context, this seems to be a mash up of “(to know something) like the back of my hand” (to know a place very well) and “neck of the woods” (a region or locale in the country). The speaker was going to a party north of the city. When someone asked him if he knew how to get where it was being held, he said “Well, I know that area like the back of my neck”. Interesting thing is that he had never been in the area, but he had GPS. Of course, he might have been thinking that it was a “pain in the neck” to visit an area unfamiliar to him, or that neck and back are similar looking and sounding words, but who knows what lurks in the mind? Body parts, particularly the hands, are for some reason the source of many malaphors. I have posted several, including “I don’t know it off the top of my hand”, “I have it on the tip of my hand”, and the ever popular “we’ve got our hands cut out for us”. A big thanks to Joseph Newcomer for sending this one in!
I was going to shoot from the gut
Posted: April 26, 2015 Filed under: ACTION, shoot | Tags: expressions, gut reaction, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, shoot from the hip, words 2 CommentsThis gem was said in reaction to helping a family friend, and the speaker wanted to be as spontaneous as possible. It is a blend of two phrases, “shoot from the hip”, and “a gut reaction”, both relating to doing or saying something quickly, or immediately responding. Of course, shooting from the gut also occurs after too much partying. A big thank you to Nate Brogin for uttering this one and passing it on!
That money was pissed out the window
Posted: April 24, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: congruent conflations, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, out the window, pissed away, words Leave a commentThis is a congruent conflation of “pissed away” and “thrown out the window”, both meaning something wasted or gone. The context was some friends discussing wasted money. A big thanks to Andy Wakshul for hearing this one and sending it in. As he said, “You wouldn’t want to walk past that window when they were spending money.” True dat.
It was like pulling blood out of a stone
Posted: April 23, 2015 Filed under: ACTION, pull, stone, THINGS | Tags: congruent conflation, expressions, getting blood from a stone, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, pulling teeth, words Leave a commentThis is a perfect congruent conflation. It mixes “getting blood out of (or from) a stone” and “like pulling teeth”, both phrases meaning to do something with great difficulty. The speaker was finding a particular essay difficult to write and remarked that writing it was like pulling blood out of a stone. A big thanks to Red C. for sending this one in from the U.K.
He who hesitates doesn’t get the early worm
Posted: April 22, 2015 Filed under: ANIMALS, bird, worms | Tags: early bird catches the worm, expressions, he who hesitates is lost, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentFollowers may recall a recent post from Marykathryn, who was described as “The Norma Crosby of Malaphors”, and who uttered the classic “do you think I would paint myself in a corner and throw away the key?” She now has sent another classic, spoken out of exasperation. Her husband apparently is a slow and cautious driver. He was trying to make a right hand turn onto a busy road and missed at least three chances that Norma Crosby perceived. So, she calmly said to him, “You know Danny, he who hesitates doesn’t get the early worm.” This is a conflation of “he who hesitates is lost” (people should act decisively) and “the early bird catches the worm” (the one who arrives first has the best chance for success). It is somewhat congruent as both proverbs relate to acting quickly to achieve success. Trivia tidbit – The Early Worm Gets the Bird was the name of a Merrie Melodies 1940s cartoon by the great Tex Avery. A big thank you to Marykathryn for sending this one in!
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