It was like a ton of bricks was lifted from my shoulders
Posted: August 15, 2012 Filed under: ACTION, BODY PARTS, THINGS | Tags: blended idioms, bricks, expressions, malaphors, mixed idioms, shoulders, weight, words Leave a commentThis mash up involves the idioms “hit like a ton of bricks” (surprise or shock) and “weight was lifted from my shoulders” (relieved of a responsibility), both referring to weight, but one indicates weight off and the other on. The speaker appears to be thinking the word “weight” but somehow “ton of bricks” replaces that thought and the malaphor is born.
I’m going to pull my own load
Posted: August 2, 2012 Filed under: ACTION | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, load, malaphors, mixed idioms, weight, words 1 CommentThis one combines perhaps a few idioms, albeit with different meanings – “pull my own weight” (do your fair share of a task), “load off my mind” (a burden relieved), and “load off my feet” (relax and sit down). Since the words weight and load are similar, the speaker probably just chose the wrong word, resulting in a malaphor which could have interesting connotations.
Malaphors 
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