some context: malaphors are essentially two accidentally combined idioms that come from people getting things mixed up.
the name originates in part from the word "malapropism", which is a similar phenomenon in which someone uses the wrong word in a way that sounds absurd out of context but was close enough to the intended word to sort of make sense.
this phenemonon is named after mrs. malaprop, a character in the 1775 play "the rivals" by richard brinsley sheridan. her name appears to be drawn from the french phrase mal à propos, which means 'inappropriate' or 'inopportune.'
one of the lines from that play, for instance, is "he's the pineapple of politeness", rather than the 'pinnacle'. when you hear it, you know it's wrong and it sounds absurd, but you can see how someone might mix them up based on sound.
for 'malaphor', the word is being combined with 'metaphor'. personally, i think this was a little bit silly of a choice as a naming convention, because technically, the point is combining idioms (a common figurative colloquial phrase), not metaphors (a figurative device used to compare two things). but this is probably splitting hairs because you could argue most idioms include a metaphor, it's a sort of rectangles-and-squares situation, and anyway, malaphor does, admittedly, sound a LOT better than "maladiom".
the term 'malaphor' was coined by lawrence harrison in the 1976 article 'searching for a malaphor'.
richard lederer wrote anguished english: An Anthology of accidental assaults upon the english language and (to my understanding; i have not yet read this) included a list of malaphors as part of it.
the fact that malaphors are considered by some as assaults on the english language, however lightheartedly, does make me adore them even more.
so anyway. some more crew posting!
++ i should note that, as far as i can tell, malaphors were originally identifiied and often happen as an accidental and naturally occuring phenomenon but have gotten to be more of something people try to create. there's no officially recognized list of every possible idiom or malaphor because that would be hard, but there are lots of lists floating around out there, so these are pulled from some of those. some of these are just vibes based or make me think about the character lol, some of them are something i think the character would agree with the sentiment of. ALL are very silly.
jayne - there's more than one to slice a cat
'more than way to skin a cat' vs. 'anyway you slice it'
simon - i'll burn that bridge when i get to it
'we'll cross that bridge when i get to it" vs. "to burn one's bridges'
mal - a drowning man will clutch at a needle in a haystick
'a drowning man will clutch at a straw’ ‘needle in a haystack'
zoe - speak of the devil in the details
'speak of the devil' vs. 'the devil's in the detials'
river - she knows where the hatchets are buried
'’burying the hatchet' 'knowing where the bodies are buried'
book - the road to hell wasn't paved in a day
'the road to hell is paved with good intentions' vs. 'rome wasn't built in a day'
wash - my two cents are just a dime a dozen
'just giving my two cents' vs. 'a dime a dozen'
kaylee - putting the squeaky wheel before the grease
'putting the cart before the horse' vs. ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease'
inara - let sleeping dogs lie in the beds they made
'let sleeping dogs lie' vs. 'lying in the bed they made'
