129

Is there a word for mangled idiom that becomes commonplace (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 months ago by gedaliyah@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

95 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Like "does the Pope shit in the woods?" or "that train has sailed?"

Also, what good examples can you think of?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] Seraph@fedia.io 13 points 3 months ago

"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.

[-] davidgro@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago

My mom was fond of "Not the brightest egg in the drawer".

[-] gedaliyah@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

I used to say not the sharpest cookie in the jar

[-] ghashul@feddit.dk 2 points 2 months ago

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.

this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2024

129 points (99.2% liked)

Ask Lemmy

27253 readers

1718 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

6) No US Politics.

Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.