You have to run the whole board
Posted: August 31, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: across the board, expressions, humor, malaphors, run the table, Trump, words Leave a commentIt’s hard for Republicans. You have to run the whole board, because they started off that we’re going to play for New York. With all of the crime in New York, I got to play for New York, because we did well in New York. We did well in New York, but we’re going to play for New York.
I know where the skeletons are buried
Posted: August 14, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Disloyal, expressions, humor, know where all the bodies are buried, language, malaphor, malaphors, Michael Cohen, skeletons in the closet, Trump, words Leave a commentThis perfectly formed malaphor is found in the foreward to Michael Cohen’s soon to be released tell all book, “Disloyal”. Here is the context:
“Trump has no true friends. He has lived his entire life avoiding and evading taking responsibility for his actions. He crushed or cheated all who stood in his way, but I know where the skeletons are buried because I was the one who buried them.” https://www.foxnews.com/politics/michael-cohen-trump-disloyal-skeletons
This is a conflation of “know where (all) the bodies are buried” (to know secret or scandalous information about a person or group) and “have skeletons in (one’s) the closet” (to have damaging or incriminating secrets from one’s past). Both idioms involve secrets and damaging information, and both involve dead bodies, hence the mixup. This mashup is actually brilliant in that it incorporates damaging information and where to get the damaging information all in one terrific malaphor.
A big thanks to Mike Kovacs, Chief Malaphor Hunter, for spotting this one in plain sight. Bravo.
Both of their backs were up against a corner
Posted: July 21, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: back against the wall, backed into a corner, Dylan Bank, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, Roger Stone, Trump, words Leave a commentDylan Bank, director of the documentary “Get Me Roger Stone!” was interviewed on CNN about Trump’s commutation of Stone’s sentence. Bank was saying that time was running out for both Trump and Stone as Stone was having to report to prison. This nice malaphor was then uttered. You can find it in the transcript here:
https://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/2007/13/cnr.12.html
This is a near perfect congruent conflation of “backed into a corner” and “back to the wall”, both meaning to be in a high-pressure situation with no escape. I did post this malaphor last year when Yamiche Alcindor, PBS journalist, said a similar mixup. https://malaphors.com/2019/09/27/they-have-their-backs-up-against-the-corner/?fbclid=IwAR1vaRUEYsSOIg1IFCxK4DGhZ8Uppno_D1ASi0_GlZKK6UyknvGo56EnL28 However, it was too good to pass when offered up a second time. A big thanks to Steve Hubbard and Jim Kozlowski who both spotted this one and sent it in almost at the same time.
Trump coddles up to Putin
Posted: July 15, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: coddle, cuddle up, expressions, humor, Joe Biden, malaphor, mashups, Trump, words Leave a commentThis one comes on the heels of my last malaphor, both uttered by Joe Biden in the same speech. See https://malaphors.com/2020/07/13/the-chinese-are-spending-multiple-billions-of-dollars-trying-to-own-the-technology-of-the-future-while-we-sit-with-our-thumb-in-our-ear/
This one appears near the end of the speech. Here is the text:
The only thing that can tear America part, and I mean this sincerely, no foreign country, not the way he coddles up to, well, I shouldn’t even get into this, but coddles up to Putin and others. They can’t tear us apart.
This is a mashup of “cuddle up to” (get close to, ingratiate) and “coddle” (treat tenderly). A big thanks to Frank King for hearing this one on Morning Joe!
Trump’s going to eat him apart
Posted: May 16, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Biden, eat him alive, humor, idioms, language, malaphor, tear him apart, Trump, words Leave a commentTwo people were overheard talking about upcoming the 2020 presidential debates between Trump and Joe Biden. One person said of Trump: “Trump’s going to eat him apart….” This is a nice congruent conflation of “eat him alive” and “tear him apart”, both meaning to overwhelm and defeat or dominate another. “Eat his lunch” might also be in the mix, as it has the same meaning as the conflated idioms. My guess is that Biden might be a little tough to chew. A big thank you to Verbatim for sending this one in!
He’s teetering a fragile line
Posted: March 8, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, teetering on the edge, Trump, walking a fine line, words Leave a commentGinger Gibson, Reuters Political Correspondent on the NPR show A1, was talking about Trump’s recent actions relative to the Roger Stone sentencing. This is a mashup of “teetering on the edge” (to be very close to a dangerous situation) and “walking a fine line” (in a dangerous situation where you could easily make a mistake). Both idioms involve dangerous situations, and “line” and “edge” are closely related. Not sure where “fragile” fits in, but “fine” has a similar meaning to “fragile”, to wit – fine means “having or requiring an intricate delicacy of touch” as in ‘delicate’, ‘fragile’, ‘frail’,” etc .” Here’s where you can hear a recording: at 7:25. https://the1a.org/segments/the-news-roundup-domestic-2020-014-02/
By the way, this is Ms. Gibson’s second malaphor. See https://malaphors.com/2018/05/18/the-buck-stops-at-the-top/.
A tip of the hat to David Barnes for hearing this one.
He’s tooting that horn all the way to the bank
Posted: March 2, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Biden, expressions, humor, language, laughing all the way to the bank, malaphor, tooting one's own horn, Trump, words Leave a commentThis one comes from the Washington Post’s Daily 202 Connie Breeden, an attorney who is African American, said “This is going to be Biden’s last stand because he thinks that black people are going to support him just because of Barack Obama. He’s tooting that horn all the way to the bank. But people are savvier than that.” This is a mashup of “tooting his own horn” (to boast or brag about one’s abilities) and “laughing all the way to the bank” (to profit from something that others regard as stupid or frivolous). Here’s the link to the malaphor
Perhaps the speaker was thinking of thieves dressed as clowns robbing a bank. That is certainly in several movies, including Quick Change. A big thank you to Barry Eigen for spotting this one and sending it in.
A little bit of a tightrope that the Democrats have to run
Posted: February 1, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Frank Thorp V, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, MSNBC, run the gauntlet, Trump, walk a tightrope, words Leave a comment
We’ve never sought to depose every witness under the face of the sun
Posted: January 31, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Adam Schiff, everything under the sun, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, on the face of the earth, Trump, words Leave a commentAdam Schiff, House Manager in the Trump Impeachment Trial, uttered this in response to the President’s counsel’s comment that witnesses would be endless and that the trial could drag on until the next election. Here is the context and the quote:
Taking up additional witnesses “could be done very quickly, effectively, we’ve never sought to depose every witness under the face of the sun,” Schiff later added, noting that a select four witnesses have been specified by House managers as “particularly appropriate and relevant” to their case.
This is a terrific congruent conflation of ” everything under the sun” and “on the face of the earth”, both meaning all things in existence, or everything one can reasonably imagine. The speaker apparently was thinking of the earth and the sun at the same time. A big thanks to Bruce Ryan for hearing this one and sending it in. Bruce has the ears of a hawk.
It was a lock cinch
Posted: January 29, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: a lock, Brian Williams, cinch, expressions, humor, language, lead-pipe cinch, malaphor, Trump, words Leave a comment
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