I’m not going to buy anything on whole cloth
Posted: May 29, 2013 Filed under: buy | Tags: blended idioms, buy into, Chris Christie, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, Matt Lauer, mixed idioms, New Jersey, Today (NBC program), whole cloth, words Leave a commentThis mash up of “buy into (something)” (to accept or believe in something) and “out of whole cloth” (without foundation or not based on fact) was heard by Mike Kovacs on the Today show recently. Talking about scientists’ theories on whether Hurricane Sandy was caused by climate change, NJ Governor Chris Christie told Matt Lauer he was “not going to buy anything on whole cloth.”
Governor of New Jersey at a town hall in Hillsborough, NJ 3/2/11 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It was so quiet you could hear a mouse drop
Posted: May 27, 2013 Filed under: mouse | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, mouse, mouse droppings, quiet as a mouse, so quiet you could hear a pin drop, words Leave a commentThis is a mad mixture of “so quiet you could hear a pin drop” and “quiet as a mouse”, but the speaker must have had “mouse droppings” on his mind as well. My guess is that when a mouse does crap it’s pretty quiet, but that’s only a guess. Really. Props to Marianne Julian for hearing this malaphor.
Right from the bat
Posted: May 23, 2013 Filed under: bat, THINGS | Tags: bat, blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, off the bat, right from the start, words Leave a comment
Logo used 1972-1992 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This congruent conflation mixes up “right from the start” and “right off the bat”, both meaning to do something immediately. A big thanks to Jake Holdcroft who heard this one spoken by a sportscaster during a Pittsburgh Penguins game intermission. See a similar malaphor – “right out of the bat” , posted October 27, 2012.
It’s locked in stone
Posted: May 20, 2013 Filed under: lock, stone | Tags: blended idioms, carved in stone, expressions, humor, language, lock, malaphors, mixed idioms, stone, words Leave a commentThis is a mash up of “locked in” and “written (or carved) in stone”, both meaning something permanent or not subject to change.
He really sold him under the bus
Posted: May 16, 2013 Filed under: bus, river | Tags: blended idioms, bus, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, river, sold him up the river, threw him under the bus, words 1 CommentHave I found the new “master”? Actress Cristin Milioti said the following to People magazine:
“The other day I was chatting with my boyfriend,” she told Theater Mania, “and I said to him, ‘He really sold him under the bus.’ And he said, ‘I think you meant “threw him under the bus,” or “sold him up the river.” ‘ … It’s a constant problem. On my first date, my boyfriend asked me if I wanted to eat a la carte, and I said that I would prefer to stay inside! It’s really embarrassing.”
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20700130,00.html?xid=rss-fullcontent
Cristin, do NOT be embarrassed by this wonderful gift you have received. On the contrary, continue to utter your wonderful malaphors so I can share them with the world. “To err is human; to malaphor, divine.”
Look who’s calling the kettle black
Posted: May 13, 2013 Filed under: black, kettle | Tags: black, blended idioms, congruent conflation, expressions, humor, kettle, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, pot, talk, words Leave a commentThis is a congruent conflation of “look who’s talking” and “that’s the pot calling the kettle black”, both referring to pointing out hypocritical behavior. The best and most common malaphors are mixtures of phrases that have the same or similar meaning.
You’ve got a chip up your ass
Posted: May 9, 2013 Filed under: ass, chip, stick | Tags: blended idioms, chip, chip on your shoulder, expressions, malaphors, mixed idioms, stick, stick up your ass, words 1 CommentI won’t reveal the source, but this is a mash up of “you’ve got a chip on your shoulder” (bad attitude) and “you’ve got a stick up your ass” (up tight). It also could describe the aftermath of gorging on a bag of Cape Cod potato chips in your underwear (never done that, just sayin’).
The guy’s a real slimebag
Posted: May 6, 2013 Filed under: WORD BLENDS | Tags: blended idioms, douchebag, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, scumbag, slimeball, word blend, words Leave a commentThis is a word blend malaphor of “slimeball” and “scumbag”, or possibly “douchebag”, all describing a not very nice person. Confusion is added by the similar sound ing words slime and scum, and bag and ball. Check out my category entitled “wordblends” for more word malaphors.
She has flown off the deep end
Posted: May 3, 2013 Filed under: deep end, fly | Tags: Amanda Bynes, blended idioms, fly off the handle, gone off the deep end, Huffington Post, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentThis malaphor was found by Bob Ferrante as he was reading the Huffington Post. It is a mash up of “gone off the deep end” and “fly off the handle”, both meaning to get extremely angry or crazy. The blended idiom comes from a discussion about the actress Amanda Bynes:
“In case we needed any further proof that Amanda Bynes has flown off the deep end, here’s her latest outlandish Twitter remark…”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/28/amanda-bynes-twitter_n_2970924.html
They aren’t clicking on all cylinders
Posted: May 1, 2013 Filed under: clicking, cylinders | Tags: blended idioms, click, cylinders, firing on all cylinders, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, Pittsburgh Pirates, words 1 Comment
English: Pittsburgh Pirates cap insignia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
An announcer from the Pittsburgh Pirates pre-game show last night (4/30/13) said that while the
Pirates are doing well, “they aren’t clicking on all cylinders yet”. This is a mash-up of “firing (or hitting) on all cylinders” (working at full strength) and “clicking with (someone)” (understood by someone suddenly). A malaphor salute to Mitchell Hoyson for sending this one in!
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