Eat my rubber!
Posted: December 22, 2012 Filed under: ACTION, burn, eat, rubber, THINGS | Tags: blended idioms, burn rubber, chevy chase, eat my dust, expressions, malaphors, mixed idioms, national lampoon's christmas vacation, words Leave a comment
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This classic malaphor is spoken by Clark (Chevy Chase) in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. His son corrects him, pointing out that it is a mash up of “eat my dust” and “burn rubber”. Thanks to John Costello for contributing this famous movie malaphor to the collection.
http://movieclips.com/VYvKC-christmas-vacation-movie-eat-my-rubber/
Leave it or lump it
Posted: December 21, 2012 Filed under: ACTION | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, like it or lump it, love it or leave it, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 6 CommentsThis twisted beauty is a mash up of “love it or leave it” (be supportive of your country or leave) and “like it or lump it” (take that or none). It has nothing to do with bathroom habits (I think).
He made a split minute decision
Posted: December 20, 2012 Filed under: ACTION, minute, second, TIME, WORD BLENDS | Tags: blended idioms, conflations, expressions, last minute, malaphors, mixed idioms, split second, WORD BLENDS, words Leave a commentThis is another word blend malaphor, mixing “split second decision” (immediately) and “at the last minute” (deciding something at the last opportunity). As I get older, I seem to be making more of these kinds of decisions.
I had to bite my teeth
Posted: December 19, 2012 Filed under: ACTION, bite, BODY PARTS, tongue, tooth | Tags: bite my tongue, blended idioms, expressions, malaphors, mixed idioms, sink my teeth into, teeth, tongue, words 5 CommentsThis common malaphor (check the hits on google!) is used when someone is wanting to say “I had to bite my tongue” (struggling to not say something you really want to say). My guess is that the speaker is also thinking of “I showed my teeth” (displaying anger) or possibly “sink your teeth into” (become deeply involved). The latter is probably more likely as the words bite and sink are four letter words and are active verbs. Also, the tongue and teeth are near each other and so this adds to the confusion. Finally, teeth bite and tongues don’t so the mind might be trying to correct itself?
Teeth of a model. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
That’s a real ball of worms
Posted: December 18, 2012 Filed under: ANIMALS, THINGS, wax, worms | Tags: ball of wax, blended idioms, can of worms, expressions, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 1 Comment
worms (Photo credit: Wahj)
This is a mash-up of “can of worms” (a situation which causes difficulty when starting to deal with it) and “the whole ball of wax” (everything). The mix up may have been caused by the words worms and wax, both starting with w, and that both idioms have the preposition “of” in them. In addition, the context was an administrative hearing where the speaker was describing his home life, indicating that everything was a mess, hence the conflation of the two phrases.
We went to Buckminster Palace
Posted: December 17, 2012 Filed under: Buckingham Palace, PLACES, Westminster Abbey, WORD BLENDS | Tags: blended idioms, buckingham palace, buckminster fuller, expressions, malaphors, mixed idioms, westminster abbey, words 7 CommentsThis malaphor is a word blend, as distinguished from the other malaphors posted up to this point, which are phrase blends. This is a mixture of Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey. Both are, of course, famous places in London, hence the unintentional misuse. Buckminster Fuller might also be in the mix, although “my ‘ol pal” pointed out that many have never heard of him. Still, you never know what the brain may have picked up and deposited in the unconscious.
This mash up has apparently been used a lot, given the number of google hits. It even appears in ads by travel agents.
It’s just a drop in the hat
Posted: December 16, 2012 Filed under: ACTION, CLOTHING | Tags: a drop in the bucket, at the drop of a hat, blended idioms, buckethead, conflations, expressions, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 1 CommentThis may be the mother of all malaphors, given the amount of hits on google where writers unintentionally use this blended idiom when they meant to say “drop in the bucket”. This of course is a mash up of “a drop in the bucket” (an insignificant contribution to a larger problem) and “at the drop of a hat” (immediately), two distinctively different idioms. The confusion lies in the use of the two articles the and a, the two prepositions in and of, and also the words bucket and hat, both containers. Actually, buckets are sometimes used for hats, as in the case of the guitarist Buckethead.
English: Buckethead in concert at Neumos in Seattle. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
That’s on the top of my mind
Posted: December 14, 2012 Filed under: BODY PARTS | Tags: blended idioms, conflation, expressions, malaphors, mixed idioms, on my mind, top of my head, words 1 CommentThis is a mash up of “off the top of my head” (saying something without putting much thought in it) and “on my mind” (currently being thought of). Thanks to Katie Hatfield for sending me this one!
We’ve got a lot of irons in the pipeline
Posted: December 13, 2012 Filed under: fire, pipeline, THINGS | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, in the pipeline, irons in the fire, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentThis is a conflation of “in the pipeline” (plan being developed) and “irons in the fire” ( a number of jobs or possibilities available at the same time). I saw this in a memo years ago. As with most great unintentional malaphors, if you heard this at a meeting it might give you slight pause but it fits in the context so you probably would not remember it minutes later.
Another bite at the cherry
Posted: December 12, 2012 Filed under: ACTION, apple, bite, cherry, FOOD | Tags: apple, basketball, blended idioms, cherry, cherry picking, expressions, malaphors, mixed idioms, washington wizards, words Leave a commentThis malaphor was heard last night by Mike Browning while listening to a Washington Wizards basketball game. The play by play announcer, Dave Johnson, said this: “… Crawford grabs the rebound, and the Wizards get another bite at the cherry.” Given the context, this is a mash up of “another bite at the apple” and “cherry-picking”, the latter a term used in basketball. “A bite of the cherry” is apparently an Australian and British expression meaning “being a part of something good”, but I don’t think Dave Johnson is Australian or British.
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