The malaphor field guide
Your malaphor could be in the next book.
Heard someone mash two idioms into one? Send it in. The best ones go in the next volume, with your name on the entry if you want it.
We'll burn that bridge when we get to it.
The Parents: Cross that bridge when we come to it + Burn your bridges
How They Collided: "Bridge" is the pivot. The speaker started one idiom, arrived at the bridge, and the other idiom's verb was waiting there.
- Sense-o-Meter 5
- Mental Image 4
- Seamlessness 5
Golden Pope
The book
We'll Burn That Bridge When We Get to It
A Field Guide to Malaphors, and the Beautiful Mess Inside Your Head
148 malaphors, each traced back to its two parent idioms, scored from Bronze Bear to Golden Pope, and acted out in a comic strip by four old friends at a game table who never let one slide. Funny, honest about where the sayings really came from, and quietly smart about how your brain builds a sentence.
Common questions
What counts as a malaphor?
Two real idioms, one accidental sentence. "It's not rocket surgery." "That's the way the cookie bounces." A mixed metaphor or a misheard lyric is close, but not quite it.
Do I need to know the two idioms?
No. Send the sentence exactly as you heard it, before your brain fixes it. We will work out the parents.
What do you do with my email?
Tell you if yours makes the book, and send the occasional note from The Ludarium. Never sold or shared. Read the privacy policy.