Like “does the Pope shit in the woods?” or “that train has sailed?”
Also, what good examples can you think of?
See also as related:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondegreen
A mondegreen (/ˈmɒndɪˌɡriːn/ ⓘ) is a mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase in a way that gives it a new meaning.[1] Mondegreens are most often created by a person listening to a poem or a song; the listener, being unable to hear a lyric clearly, substitutes words that sound similar and make some kind of sense.[2][3] The American writer Sylvia Wright coined the term in 1954, recalling a childhood memory of her mother reading the Scottish ballad “The Bonnie Earl o’ Moray”, and mishearing the words “laid him on the green” as “Lady Mondegreen”.
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malapropism
A malapropism (/ˈmæləprɒpɪzəm/; also called a malaprop, acyrologia, or Dogberryism) is the incorrect use of a word in place of a word with a similar sound, either unintentionally or for comedic effect, resulting in a nonsensical, often humorous utterance. An example is the statement attributed to baseball player Yogi Berra, regarding switch hitters, “He hits from both sides of the plate. He’s amphibious”,[1] with the accidental use of amphibious rather than the intended ambidextrous. Malapropisms often occur as errors in natural speech and are sometimes the subject of media attention, especially when made by politicians or other prominent individuals.
Though this is not for idiomatic phrases, there’s also misnomer, for when something is named in a misleading or inappropriate manner.
Though, different dictionaries seem to give different scope to what can and cannot be considered a misnomer, and others place different emphasis on precisely how the name is wrong qualifies it as a misnomer.
Cambridge lists ‘dry cleaning’ as an example, a process that involves liquid and is thus antithetical.
The focus is on something being named such that the obvious, plain reading of it implies the precise opposite.
Merriam Webster lists that its a misnomer to call a farmer a peasant, which is not antithetical but more along the lines of being rude, out of date.
Their conception of it is fairly broad: any name that is inaccurate for basically any reason, or even just a word that has offensive connotations due to inaccuracy.
Dictionary.com uses the examples of Chinese Checkers, a funny bone, and hay fever.
They focus the definition on the factual/historical inaccuracy of the term:
Chinese Checkers did not originate in China, a funny bone is actually a nerve, not a bone, and hay fever is not caused by hay, nor is it a fever.
Cambridge lists ‘dry cleaning’ as an example, a process that involves liquid and is thus antithetical.
Ehhh…man, I dunno about that example, Cambridge. Like, wouldn’t sweeping involve cleaning something? Vacuuming?
That’s not “Dry cleaning”
No, but if they’re going to assert that cleaning involves liquid, they would be counterexamples to such an assertion.
“dry cleaning” is a specific term for a method of laundering clothes that DOES require a liquid, but not soaking the clothes in water.
Those things you mentioned are not counter examples, because they have nothing to do with “dry cleaning”.
That’s like if I point out that peanuts aren’t actually nuts, and you respond with “but walnuts are nuts!”
Yeah, walnuts are nuts, but that doesn’t have anything to do with peanuts and whether or not they are nuts.
They are focusing on the dry part of the term. Using a liquid during the process goes against the dry part.
I would tend to disagree with the Cambridge example, because liquids can be dry. “Dry” liquids are anhydrous, meaning they’ve been treated to remove any water.
Source: Am chemist and I teach O-Chem, which frequently uses dry solvents, like anhydrous acetone.
Bone apple tea!
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.
If you haven’t, you might want to read Patrick O’Brien’s Aubrey/Maturin series, or at least to peruse this list from Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/AubreyMaturinSeries/comments/4ak12q/which_its_a_prodigious_great_list_of_aubreys/
Maybe also egg corn?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F12LSAbos7A&t=467s&pp=ygULTWFsYXByb3Bpc20%3D
We’ll drive off that bridge when we get to it
I usually go with “We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it”
That’s my favorite one to use
I can’t believe you got such a simple saying wrong. It’s not rocket surgery.
I need to start using this one, I already use “burn that bridge” fairly often
I like “we’ll burn that bridge when we come to it”
No, the bridge is too well-guarded.
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“Well isn’t that the horse calling the kettle black”
I love this.
“Welp, I’m going to get hard at work”
Umm… Yeah, that TOTALLY never actually happens to me either.
I can’t get hard at work because there’s not enough meat to play with =/
There’s not enough meat to play with because I can’t get hard at work!
Ahh! It’s a Catch 22!
Im stealing these.
I say “Same Difference” often and people hate it.
A malapropism? Does that apply? 🤔
That’s like if you said “mute point” instead of “moot point.”
moo point.
you know, the kind of thing a cow would say.
How you mooin’? 😎
Like a cow’s opinion. It doesn’t matter.
You know, a cow’s opinion
How the hell should I know, I’m not a rocket surgeon
I’m a rocket sturgeon
Sounds fishy
Just wait until the smell hits you.
Not exactly brain science, is it?
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.
Or, taking a different perspective:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1433409/
Management of trauma and emergency surgery in space
As on Earth, the major determinant of emergency surgical care in spaceflight may be the presence or absence of a well-trained surgeon.
Sounds like they need a rocket surgeon!
Now, that one does have its place. I either it in an ironic sense that you dont need multiple degrees to do something. The flip side is that the people we send to space tend to be the most qualified people in multiple fields, a medical surgeon with a stem degree does not sound too far outside the realm of reason.
“I could care less”
You could and you should!
“It’s not rocket surgery.”
This one irks me. Combination of “rocket scientist” and “brain surgery”.
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.
I’m personally a fan of “it’s not rocket appliances”
It’s just people combining “it’s not rocket science” and “it’s not brain surgery”. Just like the pope one.
Yes, that’s exactly what I thought I had implied.
“Does a bear shit in the woods” and “it’s not Pope surgery”?
Get two birds stoned at once
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”
Two stones with one bird
I use this one regularly
- 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.
That last one… goddamn, that’s amazing.
“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.
My mom was fond of “Not the brightest egg in the drawer”.
I used to say not the sharpest cookie in the jar
I do it in danish, but we have the idiom here too. I’ll often make up a new one following the not the x y in the z template. E.g. Not the loudest spoon in the forest.
One of my standbys is “that horse has sailed”.
I’m running around like a chicken with its legs cut off.
Reminds me of my friend once saying that “the discussion leads nowhere. It’s like the snake biting its tongue”
It’s not rocket surgery.
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?
The correct term is Rickyism
