# Favorite mixed/mangled metaphors **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 24, 2003, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-mixed-mangled-metaphors/190626 "2003-07-24T14:14:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-mixed-mangled-metaphors/190626/1 "2003-07-24T14:14:57Z")
As part of my continuing effort to make everybody else’s life a little more surreal, I like to purposefully mix and/or mangle common phrases in everyday conversation. Most people, suprisingly enough, don’t seem to notice, although occasionally I am rewarded with an odd stare. Here are some of my favorites: [ul][li]We’ll just have to burn that bridge when we come to it[/li] [li]It’s like trying to thread a needle with a haystack[/li] [li]Half of one, six dozen of another[/li] [li]I’ve got places to see, things to go, people to do[/li] [li]If it’s not one thing, it’s two things[/ul][/li]Anybody else have some favorites they’d like to share? Regards, Barry ---
**Author:** ![Second\_Guest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@Second\_Guest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Second_Guest)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-mixed-mangled-metaphors/190626/2 "2003-07-24T14:24:04Z")
I once knew someone who was fond of saying: “That’s my name–don’t wear me out.” (It was funny the first few times.) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-mixed-mangled-metaphors/190626/3 "2003-07-24T15:28:44Z")
I swear I actually heard this on ABC news once: “If the founding fathers were alive today, they’d be turning over in their graves.” ---
**Author:** ![PVenkman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed8c4c/32.png) [@PVenkman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PVenkman)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-mixed-mangled-metaphors/190626/4 "2003-07-24T15:57:57Z")
“Does the pope wipe his ass on a bear?” ---
**Author:** ![Mastema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@Mastema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mastema)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-mixed-mangled-metaphors/190626/5 "2003-07-24T15:58:23Z")
“It looks like your ship has finally hit the fan.” -Balki on Perfect Strangers. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-mixed-mangled-metaphors/190626/6 "2003-07-24T15:59:43Z")
A few I like … “Up a gumtree without a paddle” “That’s a whole new kettle of worms” ---
**Author:** ![Ms.Fisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Ms.Fisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms.Fisk)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-mixed-mangled-metaphors/190626/7 "2003-07-24T15:59:44Z")
A friend of mine was fond of saying “Chunk it,” when instructing me to throw something out. I thought it was funny that even after I told him the proper idiom is “Chuck it,” he continued to say it. But I took it too far. I started irreverently using the phrase myself, and he got upset at that. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-mixed-mangled-metaphors/190626/8 "2003-07-24T16:07:09Z")
I’ve been known to say ‘a day short and a dollar late’. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-mixed-mangled-metaphors/190626/9 "2003-07-24T16:21:49Z")
An apple a day spoils the whole barrel. Too many cooks and not enough chefs. All work and no play makes Jack a healthy, wealthy and wise man. Killing two birds in the hand with one stone in the bush. Water over the bridge/under the dam. ---
**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-mixed-mangled-metaphors/190626/10 "2003-07-24T16:29:11Z")
Glad to see I’m not alone in this! Keep 'em coming 😃 Barry ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-mixed-mangled-metaphors/190626/11 "2003-07-24T16:47:32Z")
“It’s so hot you could lay an egg on the sidewalk.” -Kelly Bundy (on _Married, With Children_) ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-mixed-mangled-metaphors/190626/12 "2003-07-24T16:54:13Z")
Wow, I _love_ “We’ll just have to burn that bridge when we come to it.” The only ones I ever use are along the lines of “He’s not the sharpest bulb/brightest knife in the drawer.” ---
**Author:** ![Second\_Guest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@Second\_Guest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Second_Guest)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-mixed-mangled-metaphors/190626/13 "2003-07-24T17:05:19Z")
And of course there’s always that other variation on the bridge saying: “I’ll jump off that bridge when I come to it.”