…is that which blows between a horse’s ears. —Arabian Proverb
We’ve made it to the end of the week, so it’s time to lighten the mood with muddled metaphors, idioms, and other valiant-but-failed attempts at figurative language. The results are inadvertent yet successful attempts at levity, jocularity, and generally increased levels of dopamine.
I destroy and recombine perfectly serviceable metaphors, idioms, and other innocents on a regular basis. Because I avidly collect others’ with glee, I know I’m not alone.
I’ve heard them called malaphors and malaprops, but I strongly disagree with using malaprop as any part of a description; first, because the term is ill-applied in an ironic twist (malaprops are intentional attempts to sound grand); and second, because mal itself, meaning “bad” is simply untrue—fun with words is never bad!
I’d go for something like risiphor or ridiphor, using the Latin risus, past participle of ridere "to laugh," meaning "laughable, capable of exciting laughter, comical" + pherein "to carry, bear" (from PIE root *bher- (1) "to carry," also "to bear children"). The result? “bearing laughter offspring.” Perfect!
As a bonus, who could resist saying, “That is patently risiphorous!” or “Another great ridiphor, Quinn!”
Although it bothers some who actually get these expressions right, the endless combinations that the rest of us come up with deserve a wide-girthed mirth berth.
And, even though these might technically appear to be…well…mistakes, I think they show a lack of rigidity at worst, and a creative brilliance at best. In fact, a risiphor combining more than two original elements is golden in my book.
So, I say we enjoy these twisted treasures for all they’re cracked up to be. As my daughter used to say when she was but a wee sass, “Mom, that tickles my timbers!”
Happily, it’s genetic~
Ah, the noble horse. Humans owe nothing less than the progress we have made through history to these majestic animals.
Our long association has planted them firmly in our language, our expressions, and our metaphors.
Hungry as a horse. Get down off your high horse. Horsepower, one-horse town, horseplay, hold your horses, horse of a different color, dark horse, horse around, Trojan horse…
…and little Kate singing along with the Mr. Ed show, complete with neighing:
A horse is a horse, of course, of course,
And no one can talk to a horse of course
That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mr. Ed.
Anyway, enjoy the way some gifted metaphor mincers around the English-speaking world have managed to mangle and malign horsey sayings!
If horses were fishes, beggars would eat for a lifetime.
Don’t change horses in mid flight.
Nip this problem in the bit before it rears its head.
It's like falling off a horse—you never forget how.
You can take a horse to the pond, but you can't teach him new tricks.
Thank you for cantering over to the Verbihund Café!
Ways to support writing as a livelihood; each one is appreciated!
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It's like falling off a horse - you never forget how 😂 Yep, that's pretty much me 🤣
Mr. Ed was my favorite show when I was little!!
I'm going with "You can take a horse to the pond, but you can't teach him new tricks." because the pond I see by my aunt and uncle's cabin cum campground in the middle of the woods in Newbury, Vermont. The new trick would be actually getting him to the pond over some very rough terrain.