We are not on the edge of the curve with technology
Posted: October 8, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: ahead of the curve, congruent conflations, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, on the cutting edge, words Leave a commentThe speaker described himself and his wife as not very tech savvy and then said this nice malaphor. It is is a congruent conflation of “cutting edge” and “ahead of the curve”, both meaning to be in front of others. Being on the edge of the curve seems pretty precarious to me. Thanks to Steve Hubbard for sending this one in!
That would just be gravy on the icing
Posted: October 6, 2014 Filed under: cake, FOOD, gravy | Tags: congruent conflation, expressions, humor, icing on the cake, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, the rest is just gravy, words 1 CommentThe yuck factor is high on this one, but it’s a great malaphor. It was said by someone who was discussing the possibility of getting more money than she anticipated. This is a congruent conflation of “icing on the cake” and “the rest is just gravy”, both meaning an extra enhancement. Perhaps this one describes a little too much enhancement. Coincidentally, I received this malaphor from two people last week who don’t know each other so kudos to Deb Rose and Jonathan Ogle for sending this one in!
You are shooting yourself in the foot to spite your face
Posted: October 2, 2014 Filed under: ACTION, cut, foot, shoot | Tags: cutting your nose off to spite your face, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, shooting yourself in the foot, words 2 CommentsYes, that is what Sarah blurted out to her husband, and then she realized she had unintentionally uttered a malaphor. As she said, “this is what sleep deprivation and being newly post partum will do to someone.” The malaphor is a mix of “shooting yourself in the foot” (to cause yourself difficulty) and “cut off your nose to spite your face” (to hurt yourself in an attempt to hurt another). Both phrases have to do with doing damage to oneself, literally (cutting and shooting) and figuratively. Sarah’s malaphor contains serious damage! Thanks to Sarah for sending this one in!
I’m no expert on this subject by any stretch of the means
Posted: September 21, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, by any means, by any stretch of the imagination, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 2 CommentsThis is a mash up of “by any stretch of the imagination” (as much as anyone could imagine) and “by any means” (by any way possible). Both phrases involve extremes, and share the words “by any”, hence the confusion. A salute to Barry Eigen (who by the way is a stretch of the nice) for hearing this one in a class and sharing it with us.
The shit hit the roof
Posted: September 20, 2014 Filed under: PLACES, roof | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, hit the roof, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, shit hit the fan, words 1 CommentWell, maybe in the Hitchcock movie “The Birds”, but in this case, the speaker was trying to say “the shit hit the fan” (when expected trouble materializes) and instead mixed it with “hit the roof” (get angry), creating a juicy (s0rry, wrong description), nice malaphor. Thanks to Katie Hatfield for her malaphor contribution.
It blows the roof off my doors
Posted: September 17, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blow the doors off, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, through the roof, words 3 CommentsThis seems to be a mash up of “blows the doors off” (very fast) and “hit the roof” (very angry). My ol’ pal says maybe “blows his lid”, which also means very angry. The context, however, was something exceeding expectations. which would indicate “go through the roof” (prices go exceedingly high) might be in play. A big thank you to Paul Brendel by way of Kevin Hatfield for reporting this one.
I was taken to the wolves
Posted: September 8, 2014 Filed under: wolves | Tags: expressions, humor, Jon Hein, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, taken to the cleaners, thrwon to the wolves, words Leave a commentI don’t make these up, folks. This wonderful malaphor is a mash up of “thrown to the wolves” (put someone in a situation where there is nothing to protect them) and “taken to the cleaners” (swindle someone). The words “taken” and “thrown”, both verbs and both starting with a “t”, may have been the root of the confusion. This mix up was said by Jon Hein, creator of the Jump the Shark website (now part of tvguide.com) and host of The Wrap Up Show on the Howard Stern channel on Sirius XM satellite radio. He was referring to a time that he was put in a compromising position. Interestingly, Jon Hein grew up in Pittsburgh (Mt. Lebanon). A fellow Pittsburgher and senior malaphor reporter, Mike Kovacs, heard this one and messaged it in. Thanks again, Mike!
You’ll end up chasing red herrings
Posted: September 6, 2014 Filed under: herring | Tags: chasing your tail, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, red herring, words 3 CommentsThis is a mash up of “chasing your tail” (busy but not achieving anything) and ” a red herring” (something that misleads or detracts from what is important). This was advice from a Judge to an attorney to have short deadlines to complete writing assignments, otherwise peripheral issues might be focused on that don’t really matter. The combination of the phrases creates a nice new one, meaning wasting time on non essential issues. So don’t sweat the small stuff, people. Interestingly, the origin of the phrase “red herring” supposedly comes from the training of hounds to follow scents. Red herrings would have a strong scent, and would be tied to the tails of hounds to make them concentrate on the actual scent that they were supposed to follow. A big thank you to John Costello for sending this one in.
I’m fuming at the mouth
Posted: September 2, 2014 Filed under: mouth | Tags: congruent conflation, expressions, foaming at the mouth, fuming, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, running on fumes, words 2 CommentsThis is a congruent conflation of “fuming over (someone or something)” and “foaming at the mouth”, both meaning to be extraordinarily angry. The context makes sense: the speaker was trying to make a left turn against oncoming traffic and said, “”I’ll call you back in a minute. I’m fuming at the mouth trying to make this left turn”. “Running on fumes” also may be in the mix, as car fumes might certainly have been on her mind as well. A big thanks to Joseph Newcomer for sending this one in!
You’re too smart for your own britches
Posted: August 30, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, too big for your britches, too smart for your own good, words 2 CommentsThis wonderful congruent conflation is a mash up of “you’re too smart for your own good” and “too big for your britches”, both describing a haughty person. This is a fairly common malaphor, evidenced by the amount of internet hits using this phrase. Contributing to the confusion is the use of the word “too”. Thanks to Sheva Gunnery for hearing this subtle mix up and passing it on!
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