126
submitted 10 months ago by gedaliyah@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

Like "does the Pope shit in the woods?" or "that train has sailed?"

Also, what good examples can you think of?

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] SatyrSack@lemmy.one 91 points 10 months ago
[-] jakemehoff11@lemmy.world 16 points 10 months ago

Good pull. Malapropism has always been one of my favorite words and comedic devices, so this is good info. Bravo!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go read an article about the Women's Lubrication movement and eat my hot astronomy on rye.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] MyNameIsRichard@lemmy.ml 55 points 10 months ago

We'll drive off that bridge when we get to it

[-] neo2478@sh.itjust.works 63 points 10 months ago

I usually go with “We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it”

[-] Gumbyyy@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

That's my favorite one to use

[-] billiam0202@lemmy.world 32 points 10 months ago

I can't believe you got such a simple saying wrong. It's not rocket surgery.

[-] otter@lemmy.ca 3 points 10 months ago

I need to start using this one, I already use "burn that bridge" fairly often

[-] Krejall@ttrpg.network 16 points 10 months ago

I like "we'll burn that bridge when we come to it"

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Gingerlegs@lemmy.world 38 points 10 months ago

My buddy and I have a whole list of these…I started calling them masonism’s because he messes them up so often lol

“I don’t give a shit if he wrote the Mona Lisa!”

“I’m not attached to my hip!”

“I’m taking my own life…into my own hands!”

“How’s that for apples?”

“There’s not enough meat to play with”

“That’s a hit…and a miss!”

“If it weighs anything to you….”

“Jesus Christ! That’s slave robbery!

“Welp, I’m going to get hard at work”

“I’m making shit up out of my ass.”

“He was flopping back and forth” (flip flopping)

“I’m going to go tell this kid a piece of my mind…”

“Oh, here you go….you’re going to piss on my parade!”

“Don’t count your chickens before they turn into eggs.”

“Well isn’t that the horse calling the kettle black”

“Does a fat kid shit in the woods?”

“I can sleep through a rock!”

Ibanez AZ series guitars? Yea I know them like they’re in the back of my hand…”

“There’s a lot of onions to that…”

“I’m pulling it off my head”

“Knock the balls off!

-knock it out of the park/socks off

“That’s a double sided sword!”

 

“You can’t lead a horse to fish…”

[-] ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world 16 points 10 months ago

“Well isn’t that the horse calling the kettle black”

I love this.

[-] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

“Welp, I’m going to get hard at work”

Umm... Yeah, that TOTALLY never actually happens to me either.

[-] Klear@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

I can't get hard at work because there’s not enough meat to play with =/

[-] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago

There's not enough meat to play with because I can't get hard at work!

Ahh! It's a Catch 22!

[-] Bahnd@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago

Im stealing these.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 35 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

A malapropism? Does that apply? 🤔

That's like if you said "mute point" instead of "moot point."

[-] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 15 points 10 months ago

moo point.

you know, the kind of thing a cow would say.

[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 5 points 10 months ago

How you mooin'? 😎

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] klemptor@startrek.website 5 points 10 months ago

You know, a cow's opinion

[-] PennyRoyal@sh.itjust.works 32 points 10 months ago

How the hell should I know, I’m not a rocket surgeon

[-] sp3tr4l@lemmy.zip 4 points 10 months ago

Arguably, a mechanic who is literally performing maintenance on exceptionally mechanically dense and complex parts of a rocket, say the rocket engine plumbing or wiring harnesses... is figuratively performing rocket surgery.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 26 points 10 months ago
[-] Postmortal_Pop@lemmy.world 12 points 10 months ago

You could and you should!

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] SteveDinn@lemmy.ca 22 points 10 months ago

"It's not rocket surgery."

This one irks me. Combination of "rocket scientist" and "brain surgery".

[-] Donebrach@lemmy.world 12 points 10 months ago

Nothing holds a bar to this as being my favorites, but I generally don’t pay much mind to idioms—they’re all water under a duck’s back.

[-] twig@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 10 months ago

I'm personally a fan of "it's not rocket appliances"

[-] distantsounds@lemmy.world 21 points 10 months ago

Get two birds stoned at once

[-] Postmortal_Pop@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago

I like, "get two birds stoned with one bush" as some bastard amalgamation of "kill two birds with one stone" and "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] unmagical@lemmy.ml 14 points 10 months ago
  • The grass is always greener in the hand.
  • You can lead a horse to water, but you can't look it in its mouth.
  • We'll burn that bridge when we come to it.
  • Caught with his pants in the cookie jar.
[-] Klear@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

That last one... goddamn, that's amazing.

[-] Seraph@fedia.io 13 points 10 months ago

"Not the brightest cookie in the crayon box" is an amalgamation of 3 different sayings I've been trying to make happen. It won't happen.

[-] davidgro@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

My mom was fond of "Not the brightest egg in the drawer".

[-] gedaliyah@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

I used to say not the sharpest cookie in the jar

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] ShurtBert@lemmy.zip 12 points 10 months ago

"The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb." Meaning contracts, friendships, and keeping promises should take priority over family loyalty.

Now changed to "Blood is thicker than water" and means the exact opposite of the original.

[-] cabron_offsets@lemmy.world 12 points 10 months ago

One of my standbys is “that horse has sailed”.

[-] twig@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 10 months ago

It's often called an eggcorn, and here's a really good video that touches on it: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JTslqcXsFd4&pp=ygUMRWdnY29ybiBlcmlr

The weirdest one I used to hear often was "for all intensive purposes," like wtf is an intensive purpose?

[-] thenextguy@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago

I'm running around like a chicken with its legs cut off.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] zcd@lemmy.ca 10 points 10 months ago

The correct term is Rickyism

[-] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 9 points 10 months ago

Does a bear shit in the Pope’s hat?

[-] kikutwo@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

"I'm lost for words"

[-] cowboydiplomat@startrek.website 6 points 10 months ago

I like ‘bob’s your oyster’ because both original phrases are nonsensical to me. Is there a word isometric to portmanteau but for phrases / idioms?

[-] emmanuel_car@fedia.io 6 points 10 months ago

Not the brightest bulb in the shed

[-] boatswain@infosec.pub 7 points 10 months ago

In a similar vein, "not the sharpest spoon in the drawer"

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Redacted@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

I thought "cakewalk" was a clever American amalgamation of "a piece of cake" and "a walk in the park".

Turns out it's actually related to slavery, so probably doesn't count.

[-] Motorheadbanger@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

I always liked "Hindsight is 50/50"

load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2024
126 points (100.0% liked)

Ask Lemmy

33706 readers
1030 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS