Consumers tighten their wallets
Posted: November 1, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, Fox News, humor, Kayleigh McEnany, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentFox News anchor Kayleigh McEnany was discussing rising grocery prices, and noted that budget meal Hamburger Helper was making a comeback. She said, “one tried and true brand is making a big comeback as consumers tighten their wallets – Hamburger Helper.” This is an incongruent conflation (mix of two idioms with opposite meanings) of “tighten (one’s) belt” (live more frugally) and “lighten (one’s) wallet” (spend money, usually more than expected). The similarly sounding words “lighten” and “tighten” may have played a role in the mix up. Here’s the quote:
A big thank you to Frank King for spotting this one and sending it in!
They don’t know their grain of salt
Posted: October 27, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 1 CommentThere was a discussion on Reddit about the hiring process of a research data specialist job and an exam to weed out those that don’t qualify. One reddit commenter posted: “It could also just be a test to weed out anyone who doesn’t know their grain of salt.” This is a triple mashup of “know their stuff” (have knowledge of a subject),” “worth their salt” (competent at the profession specified),” and “take it with a grain of salt” (be skeptical). A big thanks to Gabriel for spotting this one and sending it in!
The Steelers have too many players that are over their hill
Posted: October 24, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 93.7 the Fan, Andrew Fillipponi, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentAndrew Fillipponi on Pittsburgh sports talk radio 93.7 The Fan was talking about the Steelers defense and said there are too many players that are “over their hill”. This is a congruent conflation of “over the hill” and “past their prime”, both meaning to be too old. A shout out to John Kooser for hearing this subtle malaphor and sending it in.
The sports world is such a treasure trove of malaphors, that I have devoted my next malaphor book to them entitled “Backseat Quarterback”. It will be published soon so get ready to buy that perfect stocking stuffer!
Rome wasn’t built overnight
Posted: October 20, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentThis was spoken by a Walgreens pharmacy clerk after she was informed the doctor’s office had authorized the refill. It was the third time in a week that this was attempted to be straightened out, and after saying “something’s gotta give” and she uttered the aforesaid. This is a mashup of “Rome wasn’t built in a day” (significant accomplishments take time and effort) and “it didn’t happen overnight” (develop slowly over time with hard work). A big thanks to Tom Justice for hearing this one and sending it in.
Something they can dive their teeth into
Posted: October 4, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphors, Matt Donnelly, mixed idioms, Penn's Sunday School, words Leave a commentMagician, Comic, and Podcast host Matt Donnelly (Penn’s Sunday School) said this one on a recent episode when he was encouraging a guest to give more details on a story that he was telling. This is a congruent conflation of “dive in” and “sink (one’s) teeth into”, both meaning to undertake an endeavor energetically. A big shout out goes to Frozen Cusser for hearing this one and sending it in.
Putin is in a tough pickle
Posted: September 29, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, pickle, Putin, Quora, words 1 CommentThis was spotted on Quora Digest:
“Putin is in a tough pickle. Technically, he cannot declare war on Ukraine to use the entire might of the Russian military. There is something about Russian laws and the people possibly going into revolution mode. It’s a bit weird, so he has been using his powers to conduct this never-ending three-day special military operation.” (22) Quora
This is a congruent conflation of “a tough spot” and “in a pickle”, both meaning to be in a difficult situation. The contributor said he looked up Russian and Ukrainian pickles, and they didn’t seem to be any tougher than other dill pickles. Good to know! Speaking of the contributor, a big thank you to frequent contributor Barry Eigen for spotting this gem.
On your moral high horse
Posted: September 27, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Buck Sexton, Clay Travis, expressions, humor, Jimmy Kimmel, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 1 CommentThis was heard on the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, 9/18/25, opening monologue. They were discussing the recent suspension of the Jimmy Kimmel Show, and opining that Hollywood is suddenly vocal that entertainment figures shouldn’t be canceled when they said nothing about the silencing of those they disagreed with. This is a mashup of “moral high ground” (status of being seen as ethically superior) and “on one’s high horse” (behaving in an arrogant or pompous way). In a way this is an incongruent conflation as the idioms seem to have opposite meanings, particularly in context. A big thanks to frequent contributor Verbatim for catching this one!
They waved the white towel
Posted: September 22, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, Josh Kendall, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, Saad Yousuf, The Athletic, words 1 CommentThis one comes from an article in The Athletic. Reporters Saad Yousuf and Josh Kendall were summarizing the Atlanta Falcons loss to the Carolina Panthers yesterday: “Cousins played the final two drives and completed five of his seven pass attempts for 29 yards. The Falcons’ offense got near midfield on his first possession but couldn’t cross into Panthers territory as a Cousins pass on fourth-and-4 fell incomplete. His second possession under center was just seven handoffs as Atlanta waved the white towel.”
This is a nice congruent conflation of “waving the white flag” and “throwing in the towel”, both meaning to admit defeat. I suppose a football player that was getting beaten so badly so could wave a white towel that was tucked into their pants but I’ve never seen it. Interestingly, in hockey, “waving the white towel refers to a tradition in hockey, that started when Vancouver Canucks coach Roger Neilson used a white towel on a hockey stick in a mock surrender to protest officiating during the 1982 playoffs. The incident led to the fans’ “Towel Power,” where they waved white towels to support the team, a tradition that became popular across the NHL and other sports.
A big high five to Mike Browning for spotting this gem and sending it in!
Sharp as a fiddle
Posted: September 15, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: DSharp, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 3 CommentsThe contributor’s father does not tolerate people who say and do dumb things. One of his neighbors recently said something very asinine and his father couldn’t abide. He derisively and sarcastically said the neighbor was “sharp as a fiddle”. This is mashup of “sharp as a tack” (very clever of intelligent) and “fit as a fiddle” (in good physical condition). This one is similar to others I have posted: “sharp as a whistle” https://malaphors.com/2025/02/05/sharp-as-a-whistle/ and “security is tight as a whistle” https://malaphors.com/2022/03/14/security-is-tight-as-a-whistle/
A big thanks to Verbatim for contributing this nice malaphor.
It threw a wrinkle into the players
Posted: September 12, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, Trump, U.S. OPen, words Leave a commentDuring the long lull before the men’s final of the U.S. Open for tennis began, John McEnroe was talking about how the final was delayed because of the increased security and the closing of the dome because of rain. He said: “It threw a wrinkle into the players.” This is a mashup of “add a new wrinkle” (to bring or contribute a new unexpected aspect) and “throw a monkey wrench into the works” (an unforseen event or action that sabotages a plan). Because of the rain, he might have been thinking of wrinkly tennis players and speaking literally of wrinkles into the players. Or perhaps he was thinking of the reason for the increased security. A shout out to Barry Eigen for hearing this one and sending it in!
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