She stopped them cold in their tracks
Posted: September 7, 2013 Filed under: stop | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, stopped dead in his tracks, stopped him cold, words Leave a commentThis subtle congruent conflation is a mix of “stopped them dead in their tracks” and “stopped (someone) cold”, both meaning to stop someone or something immediately. Thanks to Jane Eyre (the real one, not the fictional one) for uttering this unintentional malaphor.
He had the nurses eating out of his fingertips
Posted: September 2, 2013 Filed under: ACTION, BODY PARTS, eat, finger, hand | Tags: blended idioms, congruent conflations, eating out of my hand, expressions, humor, language, Little finger, malaphors, mixed idioms, twisted around the little finger, words 1 CommentI believe this is a congruent conflation of “eating out of his hand” and “twisted around his little finger“, both meaning to control or manipulate others. “At your fingertips” (within reach) might also be in the jumble. Regardless, this malaphor paints an unsanitary picture but one worthy of posting on Labor Day. Here’s to all the hardworking nurses out there! A shout out to Steve Grieme for sending this one in.
Please stop and smell the daisies
Posted: August 30, 2013 Filed under: daisies, roses, THINGS | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, flowers, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, pushing up daisies, stop and smell the roses, words Leave a comment
Daisies (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I saw this malaphor in today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and had to post it right away. It is a mash up of “stop and smell the roses” (pause and enjoy life) and “pushing up daisies” (dead). “Wake up and smell the coffee” may also be in the mix. Not sure if daisies really have any smell, but I don’t really want to push any of them up anytime soon.
There’s no use crying over fish in the sea
Posted: August 27, 2013 Filed under: ANIMALS, cry, fish, milk | Tags: blended idioms, Don Draper, don't cry over spilled milk, expressions, humor, language, Mad Men, malaphors, mixed idioms, plenty of fish in the sea, television, words Leave a comment
Don Draper of Mad Men works on Madison Avenue (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I have too many fires on the plate
Posted: August 26, 2013 Filed under: ball, fire, irons, THINGS | Tags: blended idioms, humor, irons in the fire, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, plate is full, words Leave a commentThis is a mash up of “too many irons in the fire” (many things happening at once) and “my plate is full” (working at capacity on many things). It is similar to previous malaphors (“lot of irons in the pipeline” – 12/13/12 – “lot of balls in the fire” – 7/17/13), all referring to many things happening at the same time. Perhaps that is what the mind does with expressions: juggling a million in the brain and two similar ones spit out. A big thank you to David Spain for overhearing this one.
We’re in a f***ing stagmire
Posted: August 22, 2013 Filed under: WORD BLENDS | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, Long Term Parking, malaphors, mixed idioms, portmanteau, quagmire, Sopranos, stagnant, words Leave a comment
Long Term Parking (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This is a word blend malaphor (see my discussion of word blends in the 2/2/13 post, Portmanteaus and Single Word Malaphors) of quagmire and stagnant. This now famous malaphor was spoken by Little Carmine in perhaps the best episode of The Sopranos – Season 5’s Long Term Parking episode. Little Carmine is a fountain of malaprops and malaphors, making him one of the more humorous characters in the series.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=stagmire
It was so cold my lips were chattering
Posted: August 21, 2013 Filed under: BODY PARTS, lips, tooth | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, lips are blue, malaphors, mixed idioms, teeth are chattering, words 1 CommentAnd my teeth were blue? This is a wacky mixture of “teeth are chattering” and “lips are blue”, both describing being extremely cold. A big thank you to Steve Grieme for hearing this one from his son on a recent family vacation and sending it to Malaphor Central!
You’re not in the microscope as much
Posted: August 20, 2013 Filed under: microscope | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, in the spotlight, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, Penn State, Pennsylvania State University, under the microscope, words Leave a commentThis is a humorous blend of “under the microscope” and “in the spotlight”, both meaning to be the center of attention and examined closely. The sports world strikes again with its treasure trove of malaphors. One of the Penn State quarterbacks transferred to a smaller school, Robert Morris, and had this to say:
“I really don’t think it’s been that big of an adjustment for me, going from Division I-A to I-AA, but it is different being here,” Jones said last week before a Robert Morris spring practice. “It’s a much smaller school than Penn State. You’re not in the microscope as much.”
http://www.centredaily.com/2013/04/14/3578671/ron-musselman-former-penn-state.html
Thanks to Justin Taylor for spotting this subtle gem.
Off the cuff of my head
Posted: August 19, 2013 Filed under: BODY PARTS, cuff, head | Tags: African National Congress, blended idioms, congruent conflations, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, off the cuff, off the top of my head, South Africa, words Leave a commentThis is a congruent conflation of “off the top of my head” and “off the cuff”, both expressions meaning to speak without much thought or preparation. It is similar to the 9/16/12 post “he said it off the top of his cuff”. This malaphor came all the way from South Africa. An African National Congress (ANC) spokesperson during a radio interview, in avoiding difficult questions, responded with the opener: “Well, off the cuff of my head . . .” A shout out to Allan Muir for sending this one in!
We keep our eyes to the ground
Posted: August 13, 2013 Filed under: BODY PARTS, ear, eye, ground | Tags: blended idioms, Business, ear to the ground, expressioins, humor, keep your eyes open, keep your eyes peeled, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentThis is a mix of “keep an ear to the ground” (alert and listening for clues) and “keep your eyes wide open (or peeled)” (vigilant and watchful). This subtle conflation was heard on Bloomberg news:
Question from interviewer: how do you have such success picking funds?
Ans: we keep our eyes to the ground.
The speaker quickly corrected himself and said: “We keep our ears to the ground and look ahead.” Self caught malaphor. Nice. A big thank you to John Costello for hearing this one.
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