There’s other fish in the barrel
Posted: July 14, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, The Wire, words 1 CommentThis one was heard in episode 1, Season 3 of the best television series of all time, The Wire. Lieutenant Daniels is telling a disappointed Officer McNulty (who isn’t able to get the bad guy he really wants to get): “There’s other fish in the barrel.” Regarding whether this was intentional, since it was a serious scene, I’m going to rule that it was unintentional. This is a conflation of “other fish in the sea” (other excellent people, things, or possibilities in the world that one may find) and “like shooting fish in a barrel” (ridiculously easy). Props (Proposition Joe?) to Barry Eigen for hearing this one and sending it in.
Once in a blue while
Posted: July 11, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, blue whale, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 1 CommentA store owner was talking about his staff sometimes missing things and he said, “every once in a blue while they forget to do something.” This is a conflation of “(every) once in a while” (occasionally or sometimes) and “once in a blue moon” (rarely or infrequently). Maybe the speaker was thinking of a “blue whale” when he said “blue”. Who knows? A big thanks to Katie Minnock for hearing this one and sending it in!
Leading the drum beat
Posted: July 9, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Chris Hayes, expressions, Frank King, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentThis one was heard on the podcast All In With Chris Hayes. You can hear it as the 40:14 mark:
It is a mashup of “beat the drum” (strongly advocate for) and “lead the charge” (to be one of the first to do something). A big thanks to frequent contributor Frank King, the Mental Health Comedian.
I need to get my blood rate up
Posted: July 2, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 1 CommentThe speaker and her husband were getting ready for their morning walk. She said, “We’ll have to walk fast so I can get my blood rate up.” This is a congruent conflation of “get my heart rate up” and “get my blood flowing”, both meaning to get active or start moving. A healthy hurrah to Beverly Rollins Sheingorn VanDerhei for saying this one and sending it in!
Talking to him goes in one ear and out of his ass
Posted: June 28, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 1 CommentThe speaker was exasperated with an adversary in court. She told her husband, “Well, talking to him goes in one ear and out of his ass. It’s simply useless.” This is a mashup of “in one ear and out the other” (essentially ignored or forgotten almost immediately after being heard) and “talk out (of) (one’s) ass” (to talk nonsense or exaggerate one’s achievements). The speaker must have been thinking her adversary was an “ass” when she jumbled the two phrases. A shout out to Marykathryn Kopec for unintentionally uttering this one and sharing it with us! Paints an interesting picture.
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He’s come off the tracks
Posted: June 20, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, Musk, Piers Morgan, Scott Galloway, words Leave a commentScott Galloway, a podcaster and professor at New York University, calmly explained that he believes Musk has “come off the tracks” when conservative host Piers Morgan asked if he accepted that Musk was a “genius.” I believe this is a rare triple conflation of “come unhinged” and “off the rails”, both meaning to behave in a way that is wild and unacceptable, and “off track”, meaning straying off the central subject. “Tracks” and “rails” are similar and add to the confusion. Here is the article:
A tip of the hat to Frank King for spotting this one and sending it in!
He just keeps his head to the grindstone
Posted: June 16, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphors, Mark Madden, mixed idioms, Paul Skenes, sports, Steve Blass, words Leave a commentRetired Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher and t.v. broadcaster Steve Blass was being interviewed by sports commentator Mark Madden last week. They were talking about superstar Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes and about what he must think about never getting run support. Blass said “he just keeps his head to the grindstone”. This is a mashup of “keep your nose to the grindstone” (work hard and constantly) and “keep your head in the game” (stay focused and concentrate). “Keep your head down” (avoid trouble or attention) might also be in the mix as Blass was referring to Skenes’ ability to block out any exterior factors and just focus on the game. It seems that various body parts get mixed up when thinking about the idiom “keep your nose to the grindstone”. I have previously posted “keep an ear to the grindstone” and “put your shoulder to the grindstone”. https://malaphors.com/2012/12/01/keep-an-ear-to-the-grindstone/ https://malaphors.com/2012/07/20/put-your-shoulder-to-the-grindstone/
A big thank you to Mike Ameel for hearing this one and sending it in!
I fell through the loops
Posted: June 2, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentThe contributor’s wife found out that she was not scheduled for a surgical procedure and commented that she “fell through the loops”. This is a conflation of “fell through the cracks” (unintentionally ignored or neglected) and “out of the loop” (not privy to the most up to date information). Both idioms describe someone being left out. “Loophole” might also be in the mix as it has a similar meaning to “falling through the cracks.” A big thank you to whitedog4u for hearing this one and sending it in.
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Sweating cats and dogs
Posted: May 30, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: cats and dogs, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentOn the You Tube show, Our Abandoned Home Renovation: A Year Later, a husband and wife are renovating a house and the wife comments on the amount of sweat. It’s at the 18:30 mark:
This is a mashup of “raining cats and dogs” (raining hard and a lot) and “sweating buckets” (sweating profusely). Both idioms describe intensity and copious amounts of something. A big shout out to Verbatim for spotting this one and sending it in.
Shaky waters
Posted: May 14, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Due South, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentOn the podcast Due South, host Leonita Inge was talking about how tariffs are affecting the North Carolina furniture industry. Here is the relevant part of the transcript of the show:
This is a mashup of “shaky ground” (an argument or position that is weak) and “murky waters” (situation that is not well known and could be dangerous). This one is similar to a previous post, “he’s standing on shaky ice”. https://malaphors.com/2025/04/14/hes-standing-on-shaky-ice/
Kudos to Yvonne Stam for hearing this one and sending it in!
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