He was taken to the carpet

Posted: January 27, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Senator Mike Braun, Republican from Indiana, uttered this one on Meet the Press yesterday.  He was talking about Trump and the effect impeachment will have on him.  It is a mashup of “called on the carpet” (to reprimand someone) and “taken to the cleaners” (to swindle someone or to soundly defeat someone).  My guess is that the Senator was thinking of carpet cleaning.  He also may have been thinking of the idiom “taken to the mat”(to confront or argue with someone), given mats and carpets are both floor coverings.  A big thanks to Elaine Hatfield and Mike Kovacs who heard this one and sent it in.

Quid pro quo is one of these things to muddy the works

Posted: November 11, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This gem was uttered by Congressman Jim Himes (D-CT) yesterday on Meet the Press, talking about the Trump impeachment inquiry.  It is a mashup of “muddy the waters” (to make a situation less clear) and “gum up the works” (to interfere with the proper functioning of something).   Both expressions refer to degrading something, and “works” and “waters” might have been jumbled by the phrase “water works”?   A big shout out to Bruce Ryan who heard this one and passed it on.  @jahimes @MeetThePress

You can hear this malaphor just about at the beginning of the video:

 

 

He is shooting for the fences

Posted: November 16, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: ACTION, shoot, swing, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

I heard this gem on this morning’s Meet the Press.  Helene Cooper, a New York Times correspondent, was discussing President Obama’s proactive week, including his executive authority to issue an executive order regarding immigration.  I believe she was wanting to say  “swinging for the fences”, meaning to try and accomplish bold ideas, but mixed it with “shooting for (something)” meaning to aim for.