She needs to get her ducks in order
Posted: December 23, 2013 Filed under: ANIMALS, duck, house, PLACES | Tags: blended idioms, congruent conflation, ducks in a row, expressions, house in order, humor, language, malaphors, Matt Lauer, MegaMillions, mixed idioms, Today, words 2 CommentsMatt Lauer uttered this malaphor last week on the Today show. He said that the winner of the MegaMillions lottery “needs to get her ducks in order”, a mash up of “ducks in a row” and “house in order”, both meaning to get organized. This congruent conflation is probably commonly said, as ducks walk in an orderly fashion and also in a row, both conjuring up the same image. A big thanks to Victoria Ameel-Kovacs for sending this one in!
You’re just rubbing sand in it
Posted: March 27, 2013 Filed under: rub, salt, sand | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, rub salt in the wound, salt, sand, Today, Willie Geist, words Leave a commentI heard this one by Willie Geist on the Today show. He meant to say “you’re just rubbing salt in the wound” as he was explaining that the person’s actions were making the situation worse. As for the other expression, not sure but certainly sand is abrasive and can hurt if in a wound. It also conjures up in my mind the guy kicking sand in the other’s face, aggravating the situation.
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