This section of the webpage is a public forum intended to help users during the creative process. In addition to attempted
conflations, this page sometimes lists root expressions with no conflation, and even unpaired roots that are in need of an
appropriate match. To access the full dialogue for each posting, just click the conflation link in the far left column of
the table.
*by submitting a conflation below, you agree to grant full rights for its unrestricted use and reproduction*
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Conflation: |
Root Expressions: |
Most Recent Post: |
| “"Slip through the radar"” | “"Slip through the cracks"” “"Go under the radar"” |
J. Branciforte, 12/21/11 |
| “That's so tasty” | “That's so tacky” “That's so tasteless” |
Will Fried, 12/13/11 |
| “I've got a trump up my card” | “I've got an ace up my sleeve” “I've got the trump card” |
Manufactured by a normally cogent man after his fifth beer of the evening. Charly Wilder, 11/30/11 |
| “"Beating up the wrong tree"” | “Beating the wrong bush (?)” “Barking up the wrong tree.” |
Used by a student in class today...not sure about the first root.
David, 11/14/11 |
| “get all your ducks in a row and then shoot 'em down” | “line 'em up and then shoot 'em down” “get all your ducks in a row” |
Eileen Nemzer, 10/9/11 |
| “Don't count your chickens until they're in one basket” | “Don't put all your eggs in one basket” “Don't count your chickens until they're hatched” |
Louis Nemzer, 10/9/11 |
| “Tap-toe” | “Tap dance” “Tip-toe” |
Inspired by current politics Mike Bennett, 10/2/11 |
| “Ooomps-pah” | “Oomph” “Hutzpah” |
A new generation of conflationists is upon us! Sevina Sophia Vatuloka Cecchetto Hostman, 9/28/11 |
| “Riding the gravy spoon” | “Riding the gravy train” “Born with a silver spoon” |
Morton Feldman, 9/7/11 |
| “Too smart for school” | “Too smart for your own good” “Too cool for school” |
Var: "Too cool for your own good." Joseph Branciforte, 9/7/11 |
| “Champing the fat” | “Champing at the bit” “c” |
Joseph Branciforte, 9/7/11 |
| “Catsnack” | “Catnap ” “Midnight snack” |
Credit: David Kline Joseph Branciforte, 9/7/11 |
| “Wasting my wheels” | “Wasting my time” “Spinning my wheels” |
A friend told me this one when commenting on his life thusfar. Mike Bennett, 8/13/11 |
| “one-note pony” | “one note” “one trick pony” |
instances of this one abound on teh internetz Kevin McFarland , 8/3/11 |
| “...chewed him a new asshole” | “chewed him out” “tore him a new asshole” |
Okay this one might be NSFW. But this is an honest-to-God unintentional usage in conversation by yours truly, today.... Kevin McFarland, 7/4/11 |
| “That's the way the cookie bounces” | “That's the way the cookie crumbles” “That's the way the ball bounces” |
New Orleans mayor Vic Shiro
(From the book "The Stupidest Things Ever Said by Politicians," ed. by Ross & Kathryn Petras, p. 54) Roger Knights, 7/2/11 |
| “A zebra cannot change its spots” | “A leopard cannot change its spots” “A zebra cannot change its stripes” |
Spoken by Al Gore
(From the book "The Stupidest Things Ever Said by Politicians," ed. by Ross & Kathryn Petras, p. 54) Roger Knights, 7/2/11 |
| “It's a two-edged coin” | “It's a double-edged sword” “A coin has two sides” |
"Spoken by Louisiana state representative Donald Ray Kennard (R, Baton Rouge) attempting to explain how one of his anti-crime bills would have a double impact."
(From the book "The Stupidest Things Ever Said by Politicians," ed. by Ross & Kathryn Petras, p. 33) Roger Knights, 7/2/11 |
| “Well, at least I can sleep with myself!” | “Well, at least I can sleep at night!” “Well, at least I can live with myself!” |
I think I usually hear those roots as a question: "how can you live with yourself?" & "how can you sleep at night?". But I like the conflation in the first person because it sounds like you're recognizing a reliable fallback option. William, 6/17/11 |
| “smokes like a fish” | “smokes like a chimney” “drinks like a fish” |
When I first read this, I thought one of the roots would be "if it quacks like a duck". Might be an opportunity for an offshoot there. William, 6/17/11 |
| “picking their asses” | “sitting on their asses” “picking their noses” |
This was overheard in conversation while a labourer was explaining what his supervisors do. Peter, 6/9/11 |
| “The shoes have turned” | “The tables have turned” “the shoe is on the other foot.” |
Just thought of this one. Has anyone else already claimed it? Mike Bennett, 6/6/11 |
| “It gets on my pet peeves” | “It gets on my nerves” “a pet peeve” |
I found this on the inter-net.
http://chzdailywhat.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/c00d8331-9444-4ef1-b115-6f2a7674219f.jpg
Mike Bennett, 6/6/11 |
| “I hope your day puts a song in your step!” | “song in your heart” “bounce in your step” |
Kristy, 5/30/11 |
| “I'm in a can of worms.” | “I'm in a pickle.” “I opened up a can of worms.” |
Ashley Alicea, 5/25/11 |
| “Take the reins by the horns.” | “Take the horse by the rains.” “Take the bull by its horns.” |
Heard on the radio today; back in the game! David, 5/1/11 |
| “open up a can of Pandora's whoop-ass worms” | “open up a can of whoop-ass/open a can of worms” “open a Pandora's box ” |
Yes, Pandora's Worms is already in the hall of fame. However this particular triple conflation we find to be pretty hilarious, at least in the context of a long car trip. Not likely to slide in under the radar though. Co-credit is due to Chris Otto on this one... Kevin McFarland , 4/8/11 |
| “Take a wild stab.” | “A wild guess.” “Take a stab.” |
Whoops!!!! commutative = transitive (read below) I think it's too late for me to be commenting on this issue. Kevin McFarland, 3/19/11 |
| “wake up and smell the music” | “wake up and smell the coffee” “face the music” |
The bf just effortlessly tossed this one off his tongue at 5 AM in bed the other morning. He doesn't even care about this website, conflating idioms is just modus operandi for him. I know the first root is cited twice on this site, (once under congruent and once below) but the combination here I find especially useful as well as congruent! Kevin McFarland, 3/19/11 |
| “Making headroads” | “Making headway” “Making inroads” |
Beautiful... David, 3/1/11 |
| “Melangenue” | “Melange” “Ingenue” |
I've been completely delinquent in keeping up with these posts. Lots of good ones lately... I know what you mean about the single word conflations being less satisfying, but this one is quite nice. The French pivot phoneme here is very chic. William, 2/28/11 |
| “go for the cake” | “go for the gold” “take the cake” |
my meta-commenting has put me in a vicious regress yet again. Kevin McFarland, 2/27/11 |
| “kill two birds with a thousand words” | “kill two birds with one stone” “a picture's worth a thousand words” |
"kill two birds with one bush" is pretty funny too Kevin McFarland, 2/27/11 |
| “Put the can down the road” | “Put it off” “Kick the can down the road” |
Hi, William! Natalie Hoffman, 2/11/11 |
| “The other side of the sword” | “the other side of the coin” “a double-edged sword” |
I just heard this on the radio during my morning commute.
:-) Mike Bennett, 1/3/11 |
| “general thumb” | “general rule” “rule of thumb” |
Thanks Mike. I hate to rain on your thunder, but I identified that one about five years ago. Happy new year! William, 12/31/10 |
| “Up to muster” | “Up to par” “Pass muster” |
Scott Worthington, 10/10/10 |
| “"you are out of rope"” | “"at the end of the rope"” “"out of line"” |
I was teasing my kids at the dinner table about how "healthy" it would be to eat ice cream covered with m&ms, chocolate, candies, etc for dinner. My daughter then said, "mom, you are out of rope!"
I assume she meant "you are out of line"?
(English isn't my first language....) Sayo, 9/28/10 |
| “My wheels are in the air” | “wheels in motion” “balls in the air” |
"Get the ball rolling" could work as a substitute for "Balls in the air." That'd make it congruent and beautiful. David, 9/3/10 |
| “Soniority” | “Sonority” “Seniority” |
Hmm, so in a music theory context, the "seniority" root could refer to some kind of functional hierarchy? Maybe soniority would be when one sound has a higher functional role because of its timbre. William, 8/28/10 |
| “Copaesthetic” | “Copacetic” “Aesthetic” |
One of my music theory teachers used this word once -- I'm not sure if it was a slip of the tongue or a slip of vocabulary acquisition. Matt Barber, 8/28/10 |
| “Wake up and smell the roses” | “Wake up and smell the coffee” “Take time to smell the roses” |
conflation meaning: realise it's time to destress your life
Lisa Taylor, 8/25/10 |
| “Refudiate” | “Refuse” “Repudiate” |
I think in her mind it was refute and repudiate, since she discussed refuting as what she "really meant" (the word she wanted was repudiate). Then she declares (as a conservative?!) that English is a "living language" and that Shakespeare coined words too. Next we'll hear that when asked what Shakespeare works are her favorites, she'll say "all of 'em." Matt Barber, 7/20/10 |
| “Off the wagon” | “Off the booze” “On the wagon” |
Sure, it's *an* idiom. Just not much of one, so there's no evocative imagery. William, 7/19/10 |
| “Monstrel Show” | “Monster” “Minstrel Show” |
e.g. Tea Party rallies with posters of Obama in "Joker face."
"Monstrel" could also conflate monster and mongrel, as in a snarling and foaming cur. Matt Barber, 7/10/10 |
| “No difference” | “Huge difference” “No comparison” |
probably unusable, but abstractly hilarious Scott Worthington, 6/30/10 |
| “Social Construction Worker” | “Social Construction” “Construction Worker” |
Yeah, my dad is a social worker and my mom is a construction worker, so, you know, this seemed like the right path for me. Well guys, this has been fun, but I think at 11:00 I'm scheduled to demo gender and rebuild it from the ground up... Matt Barber, 6/30/10 |
| “Finickle” | “Finicky” “Fickle” |
Matt Barber, 6/25/10 |
| “Fork in the Mud” | “Fork in the Road” “Stick in the Mud” |
Me neither, but it's a great image. Maybe it could describe someone who's a real drag but at least offers you a couple of options - both uninteresting? I need to clean up this page and post a lot of the best ones to the official lists... William, 6/17/10 |
| “shot in the dark horse” | “shot in the dark” “dark horse” |
ross karre, 6/12/10 |
| “Going up to hell OR Getting shot in flames” | “Getting shot to hell” “Going up in flames” |
William Fried, 6/2/10 |
| “Welcome to the boat.” | “Welcome to the club.” “We're in the same boat.” |
Wow. Perfection. William, 5/30/10 |
| “Thursdate” | “Thursday” “Date” |
When you have a date with someone on any day of the week you can quickly conflate the two. Mondate, Tuesdate, Wednesdate, etc. Alec Sutherland, 5/28/10 |
| “Keep me up to breast” | “Up to Speed” “Abreast” |
Glad you remembered to put this one up. Just wanted to point out that the corollary is also nice: "keep me aspeed of the situation". William, 5/25/10 |
| “Are you picking through what I'm throwing up?” | “Are you picking up what I'm throwing down?” “??” |
Thanks! I wish it were a conflation. It has a bit of the flavor of a conflation (and probably some other flavors besides). Matt Barber, 5/25/10 |
| “Deal accompli” | “Done deal” “Fait accompli.” |
How can this one not exist already? David Cecchetto, 5/21/10 |
| “A house of dominoes” | “A house of cards” “Falling dominoes (or A domino scenario)” |
I absolutely love this. William, 5/20/10 |
| “Don’t shoot the golden goose” | “Don’t shoot the piano player” “Don’t kill the golden goose” |
Roger Knights, 5/20/10 |
| “Keep your eye on the brass” | “Grab the brass ring” “Keep your eye on the prize” |
This one should be getting more attention! I love the political undertones, especially in these times of economic chicanery. David Cecchetto, 5/18/10 |
| “Thuesday” | “Tuesday” “Thursday” |
Reminds of when I was planning a trip to Russia and my contact there described St. Petes as 'imposive.' Pretty accurate, actually. David Cecchetto, 5/18/10 |
| “I'm a hungry camper & I'm as happy as a bear.” | “I'm a happy camper.” “I'm as hungry as a bear” |
"I'm a hungry camper" was used no-conflation-intended-ly by my boyfriend today. Incidentally, he is also "happy as a bear," in a literal sense, accordingly to gay subculture parlance. It struck me in briefly researching this one that the oft used phrase "hungry as a horse," may be itself a conflation of "hungry as a bear" and "so hungry I could eat a horse." Kevin McFarland, 5/3/10 |
| “40 is the new black.” | “40 is the new 20.” “Green is the new black.” |
Not on the pd-list, but I am indeed a musician and occasional composer. The other day I misused the word conflagration when I meant conflation, at which point I was immediately tipped off about this site. Kevin McFarland, 4/27/10 |
| “spazz cadet” | “spazz/spaz (from "spastic")” “space cadet” |
This is great... I love it when the two roots are somewhat opposite. I'm going to start using this one. William, 4/22/10 |
| “"herding teeth" (and "pulling cats")” | “herding cats” “pulling teeth” |
I like it. William, 4/22/10 |
| “The oyster is at your fingertips.” | “The world is your oyster.” “The world is at your fingertips.” |
Close, but if we're going to be picky, a true absent pivot would have a second root that began with the object of your first root: "oyster". Absent pivots are pretty rare in this collection - I think "squeaky as a whistle" is the only good one. But yours is definitely congruent. William, 4/22/10 |
| “With bated hooks.” | “With bated breath.” “On tenterhooks.” |
As great as this, I still really like the sound of "With tenterbreath." Matt Barber, 3/15/10 |
| “You're a tough egg.” | “Tough cookie.” “Hard egg.” |
So, completely incidentally, I had a composition teacher who described Yanni's music as "boiled Kleenex." Matt Barber, 3/9/10 |
| “Right out of the bat.” | “Right off the bat.” “Right out of the gate.” |
Heard on a basketball broadcast. Mark Cecchetto (c/o Matt Devlin), 3/2/10 |
| “Talking off the top of my head” | “Talking out of my ass” “off the top of my head” |
This could also be "Speaking off the cuff" and "off the top of my head."
Incidentally I have overheard things like "It's on the tip of my head." Matt Barber, 2/27/10 |
| “Don't count your blessings before they're hatched.” | “Count your blessings.” “Don't count your chickens before they're hatched.” |
Christina Crispin, 2/14/10 |
| “clean as new” | “clean as a whistle” “good as new” |
Or it could be a commentary on whistleblowers. Matt Barber, 2/9/10 |
| “If you were.” | “If you will.” “As it were.” |
Nice catch. "As you will" would give a feeling of agency to the phrase. William, 2/2/10 |
| “Roll out of bed on a log.” | “Roll out of bed & Sleep like a log.” “Run out of town on a rail.” |
??? So this is something I apparently said to my wife this morning while I was still in a semi-asleep state: "If it were almost 9:00 you'd roll me out of bed on a log."
I have no idea what it means, but I assume it conflates "Roll out of bed," "Run out of town on a rail," and "Sleep like a log." Matt Barber, 1/28/10 |
| “Go to school on him.” | “Take him to school.” “Go to work on him.” |
School him the business! Matt Barber, 1/21/10 |
| “Pushing your horizons.” | “Pushing the envelope.” “Broaden your horizons.” |
You're right - "Pushing the horizon" is a beautiful image, and you could get it by in conversation without notice. Your alternate is funny, but I think it would be detected. William, 1/20/10 |
| “Pull my leg over my eyes.” | “Pull my leg.” “Pull the wool over my eyes.” |
I can't keep up with all of this... But I do like this one the best. William, 1/19/10 |
| “Going gungbusters.” | “Going gangbusters.” “Gung-ho.” |
Also -- "Going gunbusters." -- gangbusters and great guns. Matt Barber, 1/19/10 |
| “Between a pickle and a jam.” | “In a pickle/jam.” “Between a rock and a hard place.” |
Matt Barber, 1/19/10 |
| “The hand that robs the cradle.” | “The hand that rocks the cradle.” “Rob the cradle.” |
Also -- "The hand that rocks the boat." Matt Barber, 1/17/10 |
| “taboo-boo” | “taboo” “boo-boo” |
Matt Barber, 1/17/10 |
| “Sleep with one ear to the ground.” | “Sleep with one eye open.” “Keep an ear to the ground.” |
Or maybe "Sleep with an ear to the ground." Matt Barber, 1/17/10 |
| “"You've buttered your bread, now sleep in it!"” | “"You've buttered your bread, now eat it!"” “"You've made your bed, now sleep in it!"” |
This has the advantage of being family friendly too, unlike the similar one that already exists. David Cecchetto, 1/12/10 |
| “"Hats up."” | “"Hats off."” “"Thumbs up."” |
Much less grotesque than "thumbs off". William, 1/12/10 |
| “Cut one's eye for a tooth.” | “Cut one's eye teeth.” “Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.” |
Groan. Matt Barber, 1/12/10 |
| “The chip that broke the monkey's shoulder.” | “Chip on one's shoulder; monkey on one's back.” “The straw that broke the camel's back.” |
Three-way incongruent conflation? Matt Barber, 1/12/10 |
| “Eat humble crow.” | “Eat humble pie.” “Eat crow.” |
Cake Variations:
"Have your crow and eat it too."
"Let them eat crow!" Matt Barber, 1/12/10 |
| “Turn the other eye.” | “Turn a blind eye.” “Turn the other cheek.” |
No two buts about it, this is really great. Good enough to be on the short list, I think. I bet you could use it without most people noticing. William, 1/10/10 |
| “huryay!” | “hurrah!” “yay!” |
I keep seeing "hooray" written places, and wanted to mention that "hooyay" might be a softer transition. scott, 12/28/09 |
| “Got my bonnet rolling.” | “A bee in my bonnet.” “Got the ball rolling.” |
Just overheard this in a cafe today. William, 12/21/09 |
| “Not the sharpest crayon in the box” | “Not the brightest crayon in the box” “Not the sharpest tool in the shed” |
"Not the brightest tool in the shed" would also be nice. Scott Worthingotn, 12/19/09 |
| “Irons in the Air” | “Irons in too may fires” “Balls in the air” |
I like the idea of juggling with hot irons. You would need that wireless electricity, though:
http://www.ted.com/talks/eric_giler_demos_wireless_electricity.html?CNN=YES Ross, 12/10/09 |
| “Tough cookie to crack” | “Tough cookie” “Tough/Hard nut to crack” |
I'm flattered that you posted something here. As a corollary, I think I like "hard cookie" to describe a tough person. William, 11/21/09 |
| “whats the sound of angels dancing on the head of a pin” | “whats the sound of one hand clapping” “how many angels can dance on the head of a pin” |
It seems a little too long to me. I like "What's the sound of one angel dancing?" better. William, 11/5/09 |
| “Three straws...you're out!"” | “Three strikes...you're out!” “The last straw." or "The straw that broke the camel's back.” |
Very nice. William, 10/10/09 |
| “Burning the midnight rubber” | “Burning the midnight oil” “Burning rubber” |
Very nice, but this one strikes me as a classic conversation starter in the workshop: i.e. is this really congruent? I'm open to hearing the case for it, but it doesn't seem so to me. David Cecchetto, 10/1/09 |
| “The whole nine-yard ball of enchilada wax” | “The whole nine yards” “The whole ball of wax” |
Disgusting. William, 10/1/09 |
| “By the seat of the cuff” | “By the seat of the pants” “Off the cuff” |
I think I like the corollary: "Off the seat of the pants" William, 10/1/09 |
| “That ship has left the station” | “That ship has sailed” “The train has left the station” |
This is nice, but I think I prefer "that train has sailed"...just because I like the image of a wind-power train (so magical). David Cecchetto, 9/18/09 |
| “Punching out of his league” | “Punching over his weight.” “Out of his league.” |
Came up in conversation. Methinks it's gold. Clint Hutzulak (via David Cecchetto0, 9/18/09 |
| “Sets the bar” | “Sets the standard” “Raises the bar” |
Hmmm...isn't this already a common expression as is? That doesn't mean it's not a conflation, but maybe it's a well worn one. I don't know, maybe I'm imagining that I've heard this a lot in the past. William, 8/20/09 |
| “The bearer of bad messengers” | “Don't shoot the messenger” “The bearer of bad news” |
Stephanie Gallagher, 8/19/09 |
| “"I'm keeping my beauty on the beholder"” | “"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."” “"I'm keeping my eye on you."” |
I have no idea what this means. Sounds lovely though. Jeff, 8/18/09 |
| “Don't bite the baby.” | “Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.” “His bark is worse than his bite. ” |
How about "his bark is worse than the bathwater"? Either way, I'm not sure where this falls in terms of congruency. It's incongruent, but the link between the roots is weak. I guess there's the "B" alliteration in both... And maybe there are situations where the conflation is the perfect thing to say. William, 8/18/09 |
| “You can't have your words and eat cake too.” | “Eat your words.” “You can't have your cake and eat it too.” |
Michelle Spencer, 8/18/09 |
| “A stitch in time saves ninety nine bottles of beer.” | “A stitch in time saves nine.” “Ninety nine bottles of beer on the wall.” |
Michelle Spencer, 8/18/09 |
| “If this van is rockin, knock three times.” | “If this van is rockin, don't bother knockin.” “Knock three time on the ceiling if you want me.” |
Ah, the 70s, good times, good times. Michelle Spencer, 8/18/09 |
| “When life sends you lemons, put them in the cherry bowl.” | “When life sends you lemons, make lemonaide.” “Life is a bowl of cherries.” |
Come see the Caberet! Michelle Spencer, 8/18/09 |
| “Don't get caught beneath the apple tree with my eye.” | “Don't get caught beneath the apple tree with anyone else but me.” “You are the apple of my eye.” |
Ah the jealous kind of love... Michelle Spencer, 8/17/09 |
| “I only have big eyes for your tummy.” | “I only have eyes for you.” “Your eyes are bigger than your tummy.” |
Perhaps remove the "big" ? Michelle Spencer, 8/17/09 |
| “flusterated” | “flustered” “frustrated” |
A secretary in my office sometimes uses this word. Mark Bauer, 8/17/09 |
| “Does the pope shit in the woods?” | “Does a bear shit in the woods?” “Is the pope catholic?” |
Is this Brian Archinal? Surprised this wasn't already on the list. William, 7/15/09 |