Sometimes you have to just step outside the dots
Posted: May 16, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: connect the dots, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, think outside the box, walk on the wild side, words 2 CommentsSome nice malaphor advice. I believe this is a mash up of “think outside the box” (think freely without adherence to old rules or ideas) and “connect the dots” (to understand the relationship between different ideas and experiences). The words “box” and “dots” are the culprits, both sounding similar. Not sure where “step” comes into play, but perhaps the speaker had in mind “step in the right direction” or “step in line”, or maybe even “walk on the wild side”? I know the speaker is a Lou Reed fan, so that is a real possibility. As in all great malaphors, there is a bit of a mystery how the brain produces one. A shout out to Lisa Davies O’Donnell, the malaphoree, who heard her husband Tim, the malaphorer, say this one.
I need to knock it out of the box
Posted: July 21, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: baseball, blended idioms, expressions, humor, knock it out of the park, knocked him out of the box, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, think outside the box, words 2 Comments“Think outside the box” is one of the most overused idioms in recent years, and so I was happy to receive this great malaphor mixing up that trite phrase. This is a mash up of “think outside the box” (be creative) and “knock it out of the park” (did a great job). There is also a baseball expression, “knocked him out of the box”, describing a pitcher leaving the game as a result of heavy hitting. However, I don’t think that was in the mix given the context. The malaphor was spoken on the Travel Channel TV show ‘American Grilled’. One of the contestants, who needed to score big with the judges, said “I need to knock it out of the box”, indicating that he meant to say “knock it out of the park”. Score a home run for Michael Ameel, who sent this one in.
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