I got by by the squeak of my teeth
Posted: October 23, 2014 Filed under: BODY PARTS, tooth | Tags: by the skin of our teeth, congruent conflations, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, squeaked by, squeaky clean, words 2 CommentsThis is a congruent conflation of “by the skin of my teeth” and “squeaked by”, both meaning just barely. My teeth seem to squeak when I rub my fingers over them, particularly after a good dental cleaning, so I can see where the speaker might be confused. The phrase “squeaky clean” used to describe clean teeth (and other things) also comes to mind. All in all, I think this malaphor is an improvement over the idioms noted above, don’t you? A big squeaky clean thank you to Beverly Rollins Sheingorn VanDerhei (now there’s a mouthful!) for sending this one in!
He is behind the gun
Posted: October 20, 2014 Filed under: ball, guns, THINGS | Tags: behind the eight ball, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, under the gun, words Leave a commentThis subtle malaphor is a mash up of “behind the 8 ball” (in trouble) and “under the gun” (under pressure). Both idioms are very similar in meaning. The context was facing a deadline, so the speaker probably meant under the gun. The words behind and under are similar in indicating location, which I think adds to the mix up. Many thanks to Senior Malaphor Hunter Mike Kovacs (note the title in caps).
At least you went down guns loaded, or guns blown, whatever.
Posted: October 12, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Buffalo Bills, EJ Manuel, espn, expressions, guns blazing, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, went down fighting, words Leave a commentSince it is NFL football Sunday, I thought I would share this nice little malaphor uttered by the Buffalo Bills quarterback, EJ Manuel. After being benched in favor of Kyle Orton, he made it clear that he wants another chance.
“You don’t worry about the repercussions. If something happens, at least you went down guns loaded, or guns blown, whatever. You just go out there and let it rip. That’s what I’ve been practicing out there this week, against our defense, so just allowing myself to go out and make plays naturally.”
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11629515/ej-manuel-buffalo-bills-says-wants-different-player
This is a mash up of “went down fighting” and “go down with guns blazing”, both meaning putting up a fight. The malaphor results in exactly the opposite meaning – went down with guns loaded, i.e., did not put up a fight. The “whatever” perhaps was an exasperated searching in his mind for the correct idiom. That happens to me a lot. Whatever. A big thanks to John Costello for hearing this one and passing it along. The sports world comes through again!
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!
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