It’s nerve curdling

Posted: May 4, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments
Rachel Maddow said this one on her show on April 30, referring to the Covid-19 outbreak in Nebraska.  It’s a mashup of “blood-curdling” (causing terror or horror) and “nerve-racking” (something stressful or anxiety-inducing).   I suppose nerves could curdle when alarmed or stressed out.   A big thanks to Frank King who heard this one and passed it on. @maddow
If you liked this Rachel malaphor, you will be happy to hear that I am about to publish my second malaphor book that has a whole section devoted to Maddow Malaphors.  The book is a compilation of malaphors from politicians and pundits.  It’s the top of the cake!  Be on the lookout on this website for the release date!
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Giuliani blew his lid on that

Posted: January 19, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This one was uttered by Lev Parnas, Rudy Giuliani’s assistant in the Rachel Maddow interview.  Here it is:

Lev was describing Giuliani’s reaction to hearing Ukranian President Zelensky’s decision not to announce an investifation specifically mentioning Joe Biden’s name.  It is a nice congruent conflation of ” “flipped his lid” and “blew his top/stack”, both meaning to become extremely angry or mad.   A huge thanks to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one and sending it in.

Egg this process forward

Posted: May 10, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This was uttered on the Rachel Maddow show.  It was regarding Devlin Barrett’s breaking story regarding Mueller’s letter to Barr about his concerns with Barr’s summary.  It is a nice congruent conflation of “egg someone on” and “move (something) forward” both meaning to cause or encourage someone to do something. A big thanks to Frank King, the Mental Health Comedian, for hearing this one!

lumps in the ointment

Posted: September 2, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rachel Maddow said this one when she was describing Don McGahn’s cooperation with the Special Counsel in an effort to avoid John Dean’s fate. Basically she was saying that McGahn was not the apparent hero he seems because of his apparently selfless cooperation, and that there were a few “lumps in the ointment.”  This is a mashup of “lumps in the gravy” (problems or stumbling blocks) and “fly in the ointment” (flaw that detracts from something positive) l  up of Lumps in the gravy, flies in the ointment.  “Take (one’s) lumps” (to accept the punishment one deserves) might also be in the mix (or should I say gravy?).  And then again, maybe Rachel was thinking of Frank Zappa…..

A big thanks to “my ol’ pal” Beatrice Zablocki for hearing this one and sending it in!

He cleared muster

Posted: July 17, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“The Master” strikes again.  Chris Matthews uttered this beauty on the Rachel Maddow show on July 9, 2018, referring to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.  It is a congruent conflation of “passed muster” and “cleared for approval”, both meaning to be accepted as adequate.  Pass/clear is the mixup here.  Anyone who visits this site regularly knows Mr. Matthews is a malaphor goldmine.   A big thanks to “Eagle-Ear” Frank King, the Mental Health Comedian, for hearing this one and sending it in.

He’s keeping it under his vest

Posted: July 13, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

This was heard on the Rachel Maddow show.  Vanity Fair reporter Emily Jane Fox was talking about Michael Cohen, and what he may have on Trump.  She then uttered this beauty.  It is a congruent conflation of “close to the chest” and “under wraps” (to keep one’s plans secret from others).  The vest/chest rhyme and close/under words probably contributed to the mix up.  A big thanks to “Eagle-Ear” Frank King for hearing yet another one on MSNBC, your malaphor channel.

Narc out

Posted: June 14, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Another gem from Rachel Maddow, the “Mistress of Malaphors”.   She uttered this on her Friday, June 8, 2018 show, discussing the indictment of Konstantin Kilimnik and his past relations with the International Republican Institute:

Well, now those new felony charges today have been filed. Instead of
facing 23 felony charges, Paul Manafort, the Trump campaign chairman, is
now facing 25 felony charges. What ended up being the big surprise here
today is that Paul Manafort wasn`t just charged alone, the superseding
indictment wasn`t just for him, he was charged alongside Konstantin
Kilimnik, Kostya from the GRU, the guy who back in the day in Moscow was
suspected of narcing out this American pro-democracy outfit that the FSB
denounced as an enemy of the state after they somehow got a hold of the
internal workings of that organization.

http://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/rachel-maddow-show/2018-06-08

This is a congruent conflation of “narc on” and “rat out”, both meaning to give authorities information on a crime, or to inform on someone.  A big thanks to Frank King for hearing this one and sending it in.

 

He broke the scoop

Posted: May 21, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rachel Maddow uttered this malaphor the other night, talking about Ronan Farrow’s latest scoop.  It is a mashup of “get the scoop” (get the news) and “break the story” (the first to address an issue, usually news).  Since “the scoop” is usually the news, this fractured saying makes some sense.  It also has a little assonance to it, so to speak.  Another thank you to Frank King for sharing this one.

His job was running point for the White House

Posted: May 7, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Rachel Maddow uttered this one the other night.  Referring to Ty Cobb, Trump’s lawyer who resigned, said, “His job was running point for the White House on the Trump Russia investigation.”  This is a mashup of the military expression “walk (or take) point” (to assume the first and most exposed position in a combat military formation) and “running interference” (to take actions to avoid or prevent certain problems).  As the submitter said, if you ran point, you’d out distance yourself from the other troops, which is a bad idea.  A big thanks to Frank King who heard this one and passed it on!

We are not out of the clear

Posted: January 25, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This dandy conflation comes straight from the mouth of Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show.  She was discussing Russian interference in the U.S. Presidential election and explained that “we are not out of the clear”.  This is congruent conflation of “out of the woods” and “in the clear”, both meaning to be free from danger or suspicion of wrongdoing.  This malaphor was repeated by MSNBC on its twitter feed: Sen. Kamala Harris: “We’re not out of the clear in terms of 2018 election cycle” https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/952057691974881280

Many followers caught this one, including Beatrice Zablocki, Sam Edelmann, and Frank King.  I guess this one was very clear.

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