This was overheard in a conversation where the speaker meant to say “strike a chord”. It is a nice mashup of “strike a chord” (elicit a significant emotional reaction) and “rings a bell” (to sound familiar). Bells and chords are both musical items contributing to the mixup. A tip of the toque to Anthony Kovacs for hearing this one.
How many malaphor variations are there of idioms describing dull witted people? Apparently enough to fill a chapter in my next book, “Backseat Quarterback” (coming soon!). This one is a mashup of “not the brightest bulb in the pack” and “not the sharpest tool in the shed”, both describing a slow witted, not very bright person. Previous entries include “not the brightest tool in the shed”, “never the sharpest bulb”, “not the smartest tack in the drawer”, “not the brightest knife in the drawer”….you get my point. A big thanks to Donna Doblick for sharing this one.
Coworkers had different perspectives of the same issue, and this nice malaphor was unintentionally uttered. It is a mashup of the nursery rhyme “Three Blind Mice” and the parable of “the blind men and an elephant”.
The parable of the blind men and an elephant tells of a group of blind men who encounter an elephant for the first time. Each man touches a different part of the elephant (trunk, leg, ear, etc.) and describes the whole elephant based on their limited tactile experience. They each have a different perception of the elephant, leading to a disagreement about what the elephant is like. The story is often used to illustrate how individual perspectives, while potentially valid, can be incomplete and lead to misunderstanding when not integrated with other viewpoints.
Interestingly, none of the coworkers corrected the speaker (maybe they had never heard of the parable?). I was happy to hear that the speaker then wrote this one in the back pages of the office’s copy of my book, “He Smokes Like a Fish and Other Malaphors“. A shout out to Frozen Cusser for sending this one and a big thank you for adding it to my book!
During a garden club Zoom meeting, one of the board members said at one point, “I don’t want to step on your parade.” This is a mashup of “step on your toes” (offend someone by encroaching on their responsibility) and “rain on your parade” (spoil someone’s plans). Both idioms describe upsetting someone, leading to the mental mixup. And of course one takes a lot of steps in a parade. Many thanks to Barry Eigen who heard this one and sent it in.
Did you enjoy this malaphor? If so, try one of my books, He Smokes Like a Fish and Other Malaphors, and Things Are Not Rosy-Dory: Malaphors From Politicians and Pundits. Both are on Amazon and cheap. They are real page burners and you’ll want to read them from front to cover! https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205
“Four veteran Homeland Security agents who helped execute the Trump administration’s arrests of pro-Palestinian foreign academics for deportation testified Tuesday that the orders they received were both highly unusual and described by senior officials as urgent,” Politico reports.
Said agent Darren McCormack, who arrested Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil: “Somebody at a higher level than the people I was speaking to had an interest in him.”
Said agent Brian Cunningham, who arrested Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk: “There were a lot of hands in the fishbowl.”
This is a conflation of “life in a fishbowl” (a place having no privacy) and “too many hands in the pot” (a situation where too many people are involved in a project). Not sure but maybe the agent was averse to saying the word “pot”? A big thanks to John Costello for spotting this one and sending it in!
Frustrated by certain medications treating symptoms that exacerbate others, this malaphor was uttered. It’s a conflation of “putting the cart before the horse” (to do things in the wrong order) and “the tail is wagging the dog” (a situation where a small part is controlling the whole of something). Lots of tails and animals here. A shout out to Bruce Ryan for catching this one and sending it in.
Conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk said Monday he is trusting the Trump administration to handle the files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein:
“Honestly, I’m done talking about Epstein for the time being. I’m going to trust my friends in the administration, I’m going to trust my friends in the government to do what needs to be done, solve it, ball’s in their hands,” he continued.
This is a congruent conflation of “the ball’s in your court” and “in your hands”, both meaning under one’s control or in possession. Certainly you catch a ball with your hands so the mind sees “ball” and attaches that word to “hand”. in all likelihood. “Out of our hands” may also be in the mix, although the meaning is the complete opposite to what the speaker was trying to convey. Given the context, a Freudian slip?
Kudos to Mike Kovacs for spotting this one and sending it in!
A daughter was telling her Dad that she was so busy at work that she had to skip lunch and work extra hours. He advised her not to do that everyday or “you will burn yourself into the ground”. This is a congruent conflation of “burn (oneself) out” and “run (oneself) into the ground”, both meaning to make someone ineffective through overuse. “Burn to the ground” (to totally destroy something) might also be in the mental mix. A big thank you to John Kooser for sending this one in!
This one was heard in episode 1, Season 3 of the best television series of all time, The Wire. Lieutenant Daniels is telling a disappointed Officer McNulty (who isn’t able to get the bad guy he really wants to get): “There’s other fish in the barrel.” Regarding whether this was intentional, since it was a serious scene, I’m going to rule that it was unintentional. This is a conflation of “other fish in the sea” (other excellent people, things, or possibilities in the world that one may find) and “like shooting fish in a barrel” (ridiculously easy). Props (Proposition Joe?) to Barry Eigen for hearing this one and sending it in.
A store owner was talking about his staff sometimes missing things and he said, “every once in a blue while they forget to do something.” This is a conflation of “(every) once in a while” (occasionally or sometimes) and “once in a blue moon” (rarely or infrequently). Maybe the speaker was thinking of a “blue whale” when he said “blue”. Who knows? A big thanks to Katie Minnock for hearing this one and sending it in!
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