Joe Biden can’t count all the chickens before they roost
Posted: May 14, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: chickens, expressions, hatch, humor, Joe Biden, language, malaphor, MSNBC, roost, Trump, words, Zerlina Maxwell Leave a commentZerlina Maxwell said this on MSNBC’s Hardball recently. She was speaking about Biden and that since 21 Dems are running (and counting), he can’t be sure he will get the nomination. Ms. Maxwell actually uttered this same malaphor last year when she was talking about Democrats avoiding calls for impeaching Trump. Here was my post:
Zerlina Maxwell on MSNBC’s “Live with Katie Tur” uttered this beauty when she was talking about Democrats avoiding calls for impeaching Trump. This is a barnyard mashup of “don’t count your chickens before they hatch” (don’t make future plans before they happen) and “chickens come home to roost” (you have to face the consequences of your mistakes). “Chickens” of course are the culprit here, contributing to the mental yolk. These fowl phrases seem to get mixed up a lot – see “Never count your eggs before they hatch (July 9, 2012 post) , and “Might the roosters be guarding the henhouse?” (August 2, 2014 post). I was eggcited when several people laid this one on me. First was the ubiquitous Mike Kovacs, followed quickly by James Kozlowski and Bob Maxwell (no relation). Malaphor spotters are everywhere it seems.
https://malaphors.com/2018/08/27/they-dont-want-to-count-their-chickens-before-they-roost/
Zerlina, if you are following, please keep them coming. We need to egg this process forward. This is a favorite of mine. The latest barnyard mashup was brought to you compliments of Beatrice Zablocki (“my ol’ pal”).
There are people waiting around the wings
Posted: April 6, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: around the corner, Heather McGee, humor, language, malaphor, MSNBC, Trump, waiting in the wings Leave a commentThis one was uttered by Heather McGee on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House with Nicolle Wallace. She was referring to people wanting to challenge Donald Trump in 2020. It is a mashup of “waiting in the wings” (stand ready to do something at the appropriate time) and I think “just around the corner” (very soon, imminent). As followers of this website know, MSNBC is known as The Malaphor Channel. Malaphors tend to be spoken when someone is filling up airspace, such as political pundits, sports radio shows, and athletes being interviewed. A big thanks to Guy Moody for spotting this subtle one.
It sticks under my skin
Posted: March 27, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: gets under my skin, humor, language, malaphor, Morning Joe, MSNBC, Noah Rothman, sticks in my craw, Trump Leave a commentNoah Rothman uttered this nice malaphor on the MSNBC show, “Morning Joe”, on March 21. He was referring to Trump’s comments about McCain and Obamacare. It is a congruent conflation (two idioms mixed with the same meaning) of “sticks in (one’s) craw” and “gets under (someone’s) skin”, both referring to something that is irritating or bothersome to someone.
So what’s a craw?
A craw is the crop of a bird or insect, the transferred sense of the word to refer to a person’s gullet (Free Dictionary). Perhaps Mr. Rothman is a Frank Sinatra fan, thinking of the song “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”. A big thanks to Frank King for hearing this one!
It holds much weight
Posted: March 6, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: carries weight, expressions, holds water, humor, Jeremy Bash, language, malaphor, MSNBC, words Leave a commentJeremy Bash uttered this one the other night on the Malaphor channel, MSNBC. It is a mashup of “carries much weight” (to wield importance or influence) and “holds water” (stands up to critical examination). A subtle and commonly used malaphor. Props to Frank King for hearing this one.
I’m worried stiff
Posted: February 4, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Chris Hayes, humor, language, malaphor, MSNBC, scared stiff, wordplay, worried sick Leave a commentHeard on the MSNBC show with Chris Hayes. This is a conflation of “scared stiff” (utterly terrified) and “worried sick” (very concerned about a person or situation). I have heard this one a lot. “Sick” and “stiff” are similar sounding words, contributing to the mashup. A big thanks to Frank King for hearing this one!
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He tends to pull things out of his head
Posted: February 3, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, Matt Miller, MSNBC, off the top of his head, out of thin air, pulled a rabbit out of his hat, words Leave a commentHeard on MSNBC by Matt Miller, a former spokesperson for the Justice Department. He was talking about Rudy Giuliani and his off the cuff (“shoots off the cuff?”) remarks in interviews. This is a triple congruent conflation of “off the top of one’s head”, “pluck (something) out of thin air”, and “pull (something) out of a hat”, all meaning a random thought. “Head” and “hat” get confused a lot and that’s what appears to have happened here. As you know, the usual thing pulled out of a hat is a rabbit. As “my ol’ pal” notes, tThe more usual metaphor nowadays is “pull things out of his ass” (making things up) which is probably closer to the meaning of what Matt Miller was trying to convey about Giuliani. For obvious reasons he probably substituted “head” for “ass” at the last second. Thus the birth of this malaphor.
A rose is a rose by any other name
Posted: January 4, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, Gertrude Stein, Hardball, humor, language, literature, malaphor, MSNBC, Shakespeare, words Leave a commentThis is a nice literary malaphor, uttered on the MSNBC show Hard Ball . It is a congruent conflation of Shakespeare’s “A rose by any other name” and Gertrude Stein’s sentence “a rose is a rose is a rose”, both interpreted as meaning things are what they are. A big thanks to Mike Kovacs for hearing this conflation of two famous lines in literature.
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