A couple posts near the end of the global warming thread gave me an idea to start this thread. I believe Dr. Science used “rattle your chain”, which is a mixture of “rattle your cage” and “yank (or pull) your chain”.
What good mixed metaphors have you heard used, and what situation were they in?
I heard a man ask “Are we lone horses?” in a business meeting. That mixes “lone wolf” and “wild horses”. I also heard a colleague say “She’s a tough cookie to crumble”.
A friend of mine (a veterinarian) heard a woman say “I’ve been through that dog with a 10-foot pole”, which floored me when I heard it.
Another buddy heard “yeah, and that’s just the tip of the bucket” in a meeting.
Also, a cop told my friend Mike, “Now you’re sinking your teeth into something that’s gonna really bear fruit.”, which is maybe the funniest one I’ve ever heard.
I’ve heard others, but can’t bring them the to tip of my mind.
To buy a pig in a poke: to think you have bought a bargain, but to find out later that you hadn’t asked enough questions, and you’ve bought something useless.
A “poke” is a Scottish term for a paper bag. If you bought a piglet in a paper bag (for example at a livestock fair) you would be disappointed to get home and find that the piglet was in fact a kitten.
The other half of the mixed metaphor is “As happy as a pig in sh*t” which is a slightly cruder version of “a sheep in clover”.
My father often says, “It don’t mean a bean!” I believe it’s a combination of “it don’t mean a thing” and “it doesn’t amount to a hill of beans.” I guess that’s what happens when you learn to speak English in your late 20s.
My boss, all the time: “The dime is in their court.”
I know it’s supposed to be “the ball is in their court” and I’m only assuming he’s mixing in “on their dime” but I never want to ask because my boss’s mind is a scary thing to waste.
I always thought it was weird when people said “I could care less”, when “I couldn’t care less” seemed more appropriate… But actually, I could care less…
