It definitely has my radar up
Posted: May 24, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: have my antennae up, humor, language, malaphor, Mika Brzezinski, Morning Joe, on my radar, Trump, words expressions Leave a commentThis was heard on Morning Joe on May 17, uttered by Mika Brzezinski discussing the missing SARS reports and Ronan Farrow’s story. It is a nice mashup of “on my radar (screen)” (considered important) and “has my antenna up” (curiosity or interest). “Have my back (or dander) up” (get someone angry) might also be in the mix, but I doubt it considering the context (although the whole Cohen affair might be ticking her off). A big thanks to that Malaphor Extraordinaire, Frank King, for hearing this one. He certainly has the ears of a hawk.
It was mind shattering
Posted: February 3, 2017 Filed under: WORD BLENDS | Tags: earth shattering, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mind blowing, words expressions 2 CommentsThis word blend malaphor was heard on the Mark Madden sports show when he was interviewing NBC hockey analyst Pierre McGuire. The night before, Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins had an incredible goal against the Dallas Stars where he tried to bank a shot off their goalie, got the rebound from the back side of the goalie in mid-air and scored a goal. Pierre said Sid’s play was “mind shattering.” This is a word blend of “mind blowing” and “earth shattering”, both meaning shock or surprise. This one is said often, based on Google hits, and perhaps has crept into the English lexicon, but I still believe it is a malaphor. It certainly is better than “earth blowing”. Kudos to Michael Ameel for hearing this one and passing it on!
We got nothing but time under the bridge
Posted: May 21, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, nothing but time, water under the bridge, words expressions 1 CommentThis one was overheard at an administrative hearing. It is a mash up of “nothing but (time)” (only; just) and “water under the bridge” (past and unchangeable events). Perhaps the speaker was thinking of the song “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay”:
I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay, Wastin’ time.
Or maybe “Under the Boardwalk”, where one just is “havin’ some fun”? Or perhaps the speaker just likes to spend time under bridges. We’ll never know. A big thank you to Bill Belanger for hearing this one and sending it in!
I just dozed out for a second
Posted: December 21, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: dozed off, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words expressions, zoned out 1 CommentThe speaker was indicating she actually wasn’t asleep. This is a mash up of “dozed off” (fall into a light sleep) and “zoned out” (to lose concentration or become inattentive). The confusion seems to lie in the words off and out, and the letter z both in zone and doze. A big thanks to Becca Christine for saying this one and Kevin Hatfield for passing it on!
Well, at blanket face? He’s great.
Posted: October 15, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: at face value, blanket statement, face blanket, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, point blank, words expressions Leave a commentThis was uttered by the Queen of Malaphors, Naomi David. Her friend asked her what she thought of a guy she (her friend) was dating, and the Queen responded with this malaphor. Katie Hatfield says it is triple mash up and I agree: making a “blanket statement” (a phrase used to describe similarly situated things, usually resulting in diluting the specific meaning of individual terms), “at face value” (accepted from its outward appearance), and “point blank” (telling someone directly). Maybe Naomi was thinking of the Face Blanket, termed by the Huffington Post as “the stupidest product no one needs ever”. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/23/face-blanket_n_6737266.html Yes, that’s right, a blanket that goes over your face. So perhaps the boyfriend really looks better with a face blanket. Cheers!
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