Oh! So the horse is on the other foot now?

Posted: December 16, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

This confused phrase is a conflation of “the shoe is on the other foot” (roles have been reversed) and I think “horse of another color” (something completely different) only because of the words “another” and “other”.  “Putting the cart before the horse” (reversing the order of things) might also be in the mix as both phrases refer to reversals.  My guess is that the speaker was also thinking of a horseshoe when he/she blurted this out.  A big thanks to Lua the Cat for sharing this one.

If the shoe was turned

Posted: March 17, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Had to post this one immediately.  Today on NPR’s “Morning Edition”  Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah),  responding to a question about him refusing to act on Obama’s Supreme Court nomination, implied the Democrats would do the same thing “If the shoe was turned”.  This is a wonderful congruent conflation of “if the tables were turned” and “if the shoe was on the other foot”, both meaning to experience or cause the opposite situation.  See also the link: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/orrin-hatch-merrick-garland-democrats-220914.   A big thank you to Paula Garrety for hearing this gem and passing it along!

orrin hatch