The weather can change on a dime
Posted: June 6, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: change at a moment's notice, dropped the dime, expressions, get off the dime, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, nickel and dimed, turn on a dime, words Leave a commentThis was heard on a local CBS t.v. news promo. It is a congruent conflation of “turn on a dime” and “change on a moment’s notice”, both meaning to act quickly. This malaphor might have been caused by the word “change” as it relates to money, although I don’t get a whole lot of dimes anymore in change. Dimes seem to show up a lot in malaphors, possibly due to their use in various expressions – “turn on a dime, “stop on a dime”, “dropped the dime”, “get off the dime”, “nickel and dimed”, etc. Some previous posts include “I fall asleep at the drop of a dime” (https://malaphors.com/2014/06/26/i-fall-asleep-at-the-drop-of-a-dime/) and “you had to figure out what to do on a dime’s notice” (https://malaphors.com/2014/05/20/you-had-to-figure-out-what-you-were-going-to-do-on-a-dimes-notice/). The latter was heard and submitted by the Master Spotter of Malaphors Steve Grieme, who also heard and sent me the one posted today! Steve certainly is not a dime a dozen when it comes to malaphors. He’s the top of the notch!
If you liked this malaphor, get a load of the malaphor book “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, available on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205. It’s a real page burner!
He’s a chip off the old tree
Posted: April 22, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: chip off the old block, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, the appled does not fall far from the tree, words Leave a commentMalaphor Hunter Gary Kelly overheard this one at the grocery store as two old men were discussing a grandson. Given the context, it’s a congruent conflation of “a chip off the old block” and “the apple does not fall far from the tree”, both meaning someone’s behavior or traits resembling a relative, especially parents. The confusion stems from the similar definitions, but also this mental sequence: chip > wood > tree. Kudos to my old high school buddy and fellow musician Gary Kelly for sending this one in.
Hey, if you enjoyed this one check out a whole collection of malaphors in my book “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, available on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205. It’s the top of the notch!
Nobody bats a hundred in this business
Posted: April 18, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: batting a thousand, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, nobody is 100% perfect, Ozzie newsome, words Leave a commentAnother excellent one from the sports world. The Baltimore Ravens held a pre-draft press conference during which GM Ozzie Newsome said that “nobody bats a hundred in this business.” This is a mash up of “nobody gets a hundred percent right” (no one is perfect) and “batting a thousand” (baseball expression – doing something extremely well and better than expected). The idiom “giving 110 percent” (going above and beyond what a person thinks he is capable) also might have been in the speaker’s mind. You can hear this malaphor at @ 15:15 at the following link:
A big thanks to Gerry Abbott for hearing this one and passing it on!
By the way, there are loads of malaphors from the sports world in my book “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, which can be purchased cheap on Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205
I’m getting wet feet
Posted: April 10, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, getting cold feet, getting your feet wet, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 2 CommentsA student was getting ready to give a presentation in front of the class, and he was a little nervous. He said “I’m getting wet feet”, a terrific combo of “getting cold feet” (lose one’s nerve) and “getting your feet wet” (to experience something for the first time). The mix up is an obvious one: both expressions have the words “feet” and “getting” in them. And of course feet can get cold when wet. A big thanks to Adam Jacob for hearing this one and passing it on!
If you loved this malaphor you’ll really love the book I recently published entitled “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, available now on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205. Makes a great gift!
I don’t want to spoil her thunder
Posted: March 21, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, spoil the ending, spoil the surprise, steal someone's thunder, words 2 CommentsThe host at a seminar was introducing the speaker and started to go into detail about some of her work. She caught herself and then said this malaphor. It is a mash up of “spoil the surprise (or ending)” (to ruin a surprise or ending by revealing it ahead of time) and “steal {someone’s) thunder” (when someone takes another person’s information or idea and uses it as their own). Spoil and steal are both five letter words starting with s that probably led to the confusion. A shout out to malaphor follower Ian for hearing this one and passing it on!
I don’t harbor any luggage
Posted: March 14, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: excess baggage, expressions, harbor a grudge, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 3 CommentsPretty whacky, but it was said by the Rochester NY school board President. “‘I don’t harbor any luggage from our battle over mayoral control,’ White said, noting he and Duffy have known one another for years.” This is a mash up of “harbor (or hold) a grudge” (to have persistent ill feelings toward another) and “excess (or a lot of) baggage” (a personal history or traumatic experience that has become burdensome). This is an interesting malaphor as the word luggage does not appear in any of the mixed idioms. Baggage and luggage are synonymous and also sound alike, so this is where the mix up occurred. Also “grudge” and “luggage” have similar sounds so the brain might have tried to pluck “grudge” from the swirl of words and instead picked “baggage”. A big thank you to John Costello for reading this one and passing it on.
We don’t want to get caught with our pants off
Posted: March 1, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: caught off guard, caught with our pants down, congruent conflation, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentMarykathryn strikes again! In preparing for a trial, she and her husband were discussing strategy and who was going to do what. She told him they had better really study the transcript from the Deposition and be prepared to catch the witness in any lies. He agreed. She then uttered, “Well after all, we do not want to get caught with our pants off.” This is a great congruent conflation of “caught off guard” and “caught with our pants down”, both meaning to be taken by surprise. This is an amusing mash up, for many reasons. First, it uses the word “off” in the wrong place. Adding to the confusion is the word “caught” found in both phrases. “Pants off” and “pants down” achieve the same purpose, so I can see why the speaker mixed up her idioms. Another shout out to Marykathryn Kopec for providing a great malaphor!
I just dozed out for a second
Posted: December 21, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: dozed off, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words expressions, zoned out 1 CommentThe 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!
He has his act in order
Posted: October 30, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, get one's act together, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, put one's house in order, words Leave a commentI 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.
Well, at blanket face? He’s great.
Posted: October 15, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: at face value, blanket statement, face blanket, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, point blank, words expressions Leave a commentThis was uttered by the Queen of Malaphors, Naomi David. Her friend asked her what she thought of a guy she (her friend) was dating, and the Queen responded with this malaphor. Katie Hatfield says it is triple mash up and I agree: making a “blanket statement” (a phrase used to describe similarly situated things, usually resulting in diluting the specific meaning of individual terms), “at face value” (accepted from its outward appearance), and “point blank” (telling someone directly). Maybe Naomi was thinking of the Face Blanket, termed by the Huffington Post as “the stupidest product no one needs ever”. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/23/face-blanket_n_6737266.html Yes, that’s right, a blanket that goes over your face. So perhaps the boyfriend really looks better with a face blanket. Cheers!
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