She needs to get her ducks in order

Posted: December 23, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: ANIMALS, duck, house, PLACES | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments
Cropped headshot of Matt Lauer

Cropped headshot of Matt Lauer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Matt Lauer  uttered this malaphor last week on the Today show.   He said that the winner of the MegaMillions lottery “needs to get her ducks in order”, a mash up of “ducks in a row” and “house in order”, both meaning to get organized.   This congruent conflation is probably commonly said,  as ducks walk in an orderly fashion and also in a row, both conjuring up the same image.  A big thanks to Victoria Ameel-Kovacs for sending this one in!

I’m not going to buy anything on whole cloth

Posted: May 29, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: buy | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This mash up of “buy into (something)” (to accept or believe in something) and “out of whole cloth” (without foundation or not based on fact) was heard by Mike Kovacs on the Today show recently.   Talking about scientists’ theories on whether Hurricane Sandy was caused by climate change, NJ Governor Chris Christie told Matt Lauer he was “not going to buy anything on whole cloth.”

Governor of New Jersey at a town hall in Hills...

Governor of New Jersey at a town hall in Hillsborough, NJ 3/2/11 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)