Smart as a tack

Posted: February 1, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

This is an example of a perfectly formed malaphor.  It is a congruent conflation (the best kind of malaphor, imho) of “smart as a whip” and “sharp as a tack”, both describing someone as highly intelligent.  Smart and sharp are similar sounding words, and both idioms contain the “as a” words.  Also, if you sit on a tack, it does smart, doesn’t it?  The mashup is also heard in the Adam Sandler movie, “Big Daddy”.  Here’s the clip:

A big thanks to Martin Pietrucha who heard this one and sent it in.

He’s sharp as a whip

Posted: March 11, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This malaphor was heard on “Hardball” with Chris Matthews.  Political pundit Charles Cook was describing former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards, now elderly, whom he saw recently.  This is a congruent conflation of “smart as a whip” and “sharp as a tack”, both meaning to be very intelligent.  Both idioms contain the same number of words, and “sharp” and “smart” have similar sounds.  I can see where these metaphor can be easily mixed.  A big shout out to “my ol’ pal” Beatrice Zablocki for hearing this one and passing it on!