He will pull the others under the carpet
Posted: June 11, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, sweep under the carpet, thrown under the bus, words 1 CommentThe speaker was referring to a particularly difficult person at a management meeting. The concept here was to throw others he was sucking into his plan under the bus and try to shift the blame, or pull them under with him . And then management would have to call him on the carpet. This malaphor trifecta is a mash up of “sweep under the carpet” (hide something), “pull someone under” (to cause someone to fail), and “throw (someone) under the bus” (to sacrifice a friend or ally for selfish reasons). A hip, hip, hip, hooray to Yvonne Stam for hearing this one and passing it on.
Throw it under the rug
Posted: February 12, 2013 Filed under: ACTION, brush, rug, sweep, throw | Tags: blended idioms, bus, Catholic Church, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, rug, sweep under the carpet, throw under the bus, words 2 CommentsThis mixed idiom was heard on NPR this morning in a story about the Catholic Church. This is a mixture of “sweep it under the rug (or carpet)” (hide or ignore something) and “throw him under the bus” (sacrifice someone for personal gain). It is similar to the 12/23/12 malaphor posting “brush it under the rug”. The confusion seems to lie in action words such as sweep, brush, and throw. Of course, many of us have thrown a few items under the rug when company came unannounced. Thanks Lauren for sending in this gem!
Recent Comments