Magician, Comic, and Podcast host Matt Donnelly (Penn's Sunday School) said this one on a recent episode when he was encouraging a guest to give more details on a story that he was telling. This is a congruent conflation of "dive in" and "sink (one's) teeth into", both meaning to undertake an endeavor energetically. A big shout out goes to Frozen Cusser for hearing this one and sending it in.

This one was overheard in a conversation between a waitress and a customer. Perhaps one might overlook this jumbled phrase if one was not familiar with syfy, but our contributor, Dave Nemcsik recognized the malaphor. It is a mashup of "a disturbance in the Force" (said by Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: A New Hope) and "a glitch in the Matrix" (discussed in The Matrix). Kudos to Dave Nemcsik for hearing this one and sending it in!

This was spotted on Quora Digest: "Why doesn’t Russia simply invade Ukraine on a massive scale as in World War II and crush Ukraine in one Titanic campaign? "Putin is in a tough pickle. Technically, he cannot declare war on Ukraine to use the entire might of the Russian military. There is something about Russian laws and the people possibly going into revolution mode.

This was heard on the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, 9/18/25, opening monologue. They were discussing the recent suspension of the Jimmy Kimmel Show, and opining that Hollywood is suddenly vocal that entertainment figures shouldn't be canceled when they said nothing about the silencing of those they disagreed with. This is a mashup of "moral high ground" (status of being seen as ethically superior) and "on one's high horse" (behaving in an arrogant or pompous way).

This one comes from an article in The Athletic. Reporters Saad Yousuf and Josh Kendall were summarizing the Atlanta Falcons loss to the Carolina Panthers yesterday: "Cousins played the final two drives and completed five of his seven pass attempts for 29 yards. The Falcons’ offense got near midfield on his first possession but couldn’t cross into Panthers territory as a Cousins pass on fourth-and-4 fell incomplete.

The contributor's father does not tolerate people who say and do dumb things. One of his neighbors recently said something very asinine and his father couldn't abide. He derisively and sarcastically said the neighbor was "sharp as a fiddle". This is mashup of "sharp as a tack" (very clever of intelligent) and "fit as a fiddle" (in good physical condition). This one is similar to others I have posted: "sharp as a whistle" and "security is tight as a whistle" A big thanks to Verbatim for contributing this nice malaphor.

During the long lull before the men's final of the U.S. Open for tennis began, John McEnroe was talking about how the final was delayed because of the increased security and the closing of the dome because of rain. He said: "It threw a wrinkle into the players." This is a mashup of "add a new wrinkle" (to bring or contribute a new unexpected aspect) and "throw a monkey wrench into the works" (an unforseen event or action that sabotages a plan).

This was overheard in a conversation where the speaker meant to say "strike a chord". It is a nice mashup of "strike a chord" (elicit a significant emotional reaction) and "rings a bell" (to sound familiar). Bells and chords are both musical items contributing to the mixup. A tip of the toque to Anthony Kovacs for hearing this one.

How many malaphor variations are there of idioms describing dull witted people? Apparently enough to fill a chapter in my next book, "Backseat Quarterback" (coming soon!). This one is a mashup of "not the brightest bulb in the pack" and "not the sharpest tool in the shed", both describing a slow witted, not very bright person. Previous entries include "not the brightest tool in the shed", "never the sharpest bulb", "not the smartest tack in the drawer", "not the brightest knife in the drawer"....you get my point. A big thanks to Donna Doblick for sharing this one.

This malaphor was overheard in a discussion with a friend. It is a congruent conflation of "hit a wall" and "dead tired", both meaning to be totally exhausted or fatigued. The speaker might have also been thinking of a "dead space". A big thanks to Donna Doblick for sending this one in.

Coworkers had different perspectives of the same issue, and this nice malaphor was unintentionally uttered. It is a mashup of the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice" and the parable of "the blind men and an elephant". The parable of the blind men and an elephant tells of a group of blind men who encounter an elephant for the first time. Each man touches a different part of the elephant (trunk, leg, ear, etc.) and describes the whole elephant based on their limited tactile experience. 

During a garden club Zoom meeting, one of the board members said at one point, "I don't want to step on your parade." This is a mashup of "step on your toes" (offend someone by encroaching on their responsibility) and "rain on your parade" (spoil someone's plans). Both idioms describe upsetting someone, leading to the mental mixup. And of course one takes a lot of steps in a parade.

This one was spoken by an ICE agent referring to higher ups wanting certain people arrested. Here's the source: Federal Agents Describe Unusual Run-Up to Arrests July 15, 2025 at 3:39 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 25 Comments “Four veteran Homeland Security agents who helped execute the Trump administration’s arrests of pro-Palestinian foreign academics for deportation testified Tuesday that the orders they received were both highly unusual and described by senior officials as urgent,” …

Frustrated by certain medications treating symptoms that exacerbate others, this malaphor was uttered. It's a conflation of "putting the cart before the horse" (to do things in the wrong order) and "the tail is wagging the dog" (a situation where a small part is controlling the whole of something). Lots of tails and animals here. A shout out to Bruce Ryan for catching this one and sending it in.

Conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk said Monday he is trusting the Trump administration to handle the files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein: “Honestly, I’m done talking about Epstein for the time being. I’m going to trust my friends in the administration, I’m going to trust my friends in the government to do what needs to be done, solve it, ball’s in their hands,” he continued.

A daughter was telling her Dad that she was so busy at work that she had to skip lunch and work extra hours. He advised her not to do that everyday or "you will burn yourself into the ground". This is a congruent conflation of "burn (oneself) out" and "run (oneself) into the ground", both meaning to make someone ineffective through overuse.