# Mixed metaphors **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 4, 2022, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-metaphors/962251 "2022-04-04T17:27:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-metaphors/962251/1 "2022-04-04T17:27:59Z")
There have been previous threads on the subject, but it looks like the [most recent](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-metaphors/554381) was about 10 years old, so I opted to start a new thread. I just heard a guest on a local radio talk show discussing strategies for reducing gun violence in light of the the [recent shooting in Sacramento](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-say-6-dead-at-least-9-injured-in-sacramento-shooting/962186/14) use the phrase “we can’t put all our eggs on the table”. So have you heard anyone use a mixed up metaphor like that recently? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-metaphors/962251/2 "2022-04-05T01:13:03Z")
"Render unto Great Caesar’s Ghost . . " ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-metaphors/962251/3 "2022-04-05T04:18:19Z")
_Never Mind Your Own Business!_ Not sure if that counts. How 'bout, _Wish I knew then what I don’t know now!_ Not sure that does either. Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes he shits in the forrest. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-metaphors/962251/4 "2022-04-05T08:40:28Z")
You’ve made your own bed; now you can eat it. Okay, I didn’t actually hear that, recently or otherwise. I just made it up. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-metaphors/962251/5 "2022-04-05T09:37:39Z")
If I kill two bushes with one stone, how many dead birds do I have? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-metaphors/962251/6 "2022-04-05T10:01:44Z")
Keep an eye on your metaphors and an ear to the ground so that you don’t end up with your foot in your mouth. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-metaphors/962251/7 "2022-04-05T10:36:29Z")
We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-metaphors/962251/8 "2022-04-05T11:08:28Z")
I have not yet begun to give up the ship! OK, so not a metaphor in any sense of the word, but it still amuses me to say it. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-metaphors/962251/9 "2022-04-05T13:45:12Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > You’ve made your own bed; now you can eat it. My version of this: “You buttered your bread, now you have to lie in it.” ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-metaphors/962251/10 "2022-04-05T15:06:52Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it. That’s been my life’s philosophy. I think the one I hear the most is “does the Pope shit in the woods?” ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-metaphors/962251/11 "2022-04-05T15:32:21Z")
In HS English class they had an example of poor metaphors. One was from a leader giving a motivation slogan: “_Let’s get the train on the track and set sail!_” ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-metaphors/962251/12 "2022-04-07T12:22:51Z")
“Whittling past the gravlax” is one of my faves. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-metaphors/962251/13 "2022-04-07T12:25:43Z")
I don’t know what that means, but I love the sound of it!