this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2026
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Malaphors (lemmy.ca)
submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by eightys3v3n@lemmy.ca to c/funny@sh.itjust.works
 

I LOVE these. Funnier the longer I think about them. Almost serious or useful then just completely out of left field.

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[–] MrVilliam@sh.itjust.works 2 points 23 hours ago

A bird in the hand is worth two with one stone.

[–] yermaw@sh.itjust.works 32 points 2 days ago
[–] gastroglizzy@piefed.social 98 points 3 days ago (3 children)

My favorite is, "Why don't you make like a tree and go fuck yourself?"

[–] FreshLight@sh.itjust.works 21 points 3 days ago (1 children)

This one's really good since some trees can self-pollinate.

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[–] Enkrod@feddit.org 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Oh, we have those in German too:

1st Idiom: Life is no pony farm
2nd Idiom: Life is no sugar-licking.

Both meaning life isn't easy.

Combines into: Life is no pony-licking


One hand washes the other.
One crow doesn't pick the others eye.

The former meaning: "Quid pro Quo" and the latter: "One scoundrel doesn't tell on the other."

Combines into: One crow washes the other.


Like an elephant in the china shop. (The proverbial bull in the china shop)
Who's sitting in a glasshouse shouldn't throw stones. (If you are yourself vulnerable to / guilty of the allegation, don't throw the proverbial first stone)

Combines into: Who's sitting in a china shop shouldn't throw elephants.


Who digs a pit for another will fall in themself. (Meaning is obvious)
Who's sitting in a glasshouse shouldn't throw stones. (As above)

Combine into: Who's sitting in a glasshouse will fall in themself.


Had a pig. (That was lucky)
Sponge over it. (Erase it / it's okay / forget it)

Combine into: Pig over it.

Note: in German sponge (Schwamm) and pig (Schwein) begin with the same syllables.


Not seeing the forest for the trees. (as in English)
Standing like the ox in front of a mountain. (being baffled or at a loss)

Combine into: Standing like the ox in front of a tree.
Or: Not seeing the ox for the mountains.


Hitting two flies with one swatter. (As in two birds, one stone)

Morphs into: Hitting two swatters with one fly.


Better the sparrow in your hand than the pigeon on the roof. (Be content with what you have in your hand instead of going for the bigger thing that's harder to get.)

Morphs into: Better the mute (woman) in bed than the deaf (woman) on the roof.

Note: "Die Taube" is feminine and can mean both "the pidgeon" and "the deaf". (dove, deaf, you can see the connection in English still)


Better the sparrow in your hand than the pidgeon on the roof. (As above)
Shooting cannons at sparrows. (Overreacting)

Combine into: Shooting pidgeons at sparrows.

[–] Ianthe__Tridentarius@lemmy.blahaj.zone 57 points 3 days ago (13 children)

Does the pope shit in the woods?

[–] duckCityComplex@lemmy.world 19 points 3 days ago

My all time favorite. Sometimes I go with "is a bear Catholic?"

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[–] HamsterRage@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago

The road to hell is paved with hand-baskets.

[–] kamen@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

One of my favourite ones in Bulgarian is "Око за око, паста за зъби".

"Око за око" is "an eye for an eye" and "паста за зъби" is literally "paste for teeth" (or what we say for "toothpaste").

The latter is technically not a saying or an idiom, but I think it still works. I believe I don't need to explain the absurdity of it.

[–] Enkrod@feddit.org 5 points 2 days ago

Haha that's neat. An eye for an eye and paste for teeth!

Reminds me if the WH40k version:

Blood for the Blood God!
Skulls for the Skull Throne!
Milk for the Khorne Flakes!

Khorne being said blood god on the skull throne.

[–] HotDog7@lemmy.world 32 points 3 days ago (3 children)

"This is a tough nut to swallow"

"It's not the end of the day"

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[–] Rooskie91@discuss.online 8 points 2 days ago

Bojack Hosreman had a couple of good ones. My favorite was: “Fool me once, shame on you, but teach a man to fool me, and I’ll be fooled for the rest of my life!”

[–] MangoCats@feddit.it 26 points 2 days ago (2 children)

You can beat a dead horse but you can't make it drink.

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[–] NotAnOtter@lemmus.org 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This was really funny in 2012 or so when it first made it's rounds..

[–] betanumerus@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yeah but we're stoning the white elephant in the room with two birds while a cart-drawn horse is heading towards a burning bridge.

[–] dontpanic@lemmy.blahaj.zone 50 points 3 days ago (3 children)
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[–] mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 21 points 2 days ago

You opened this can of worms, now lie in it

I resent, and resemble, this

[–] Blow_Me@midwest.social 12 points 2 days ago

I'm here to kick ass and take names, and I'm all out of ass!

*clicks pen*

Names, please...

[–] DagwoodIII@piefed.social 29 points 3 days ago (2 children)

From the Buffy-verse.

Harmony, the dumbest vampire.

"You're preaching to the horse's mouth."

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[–] MangoCats@feddit.it 14 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

"It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, and I'm wearing Milk-Bone underwear."

"People who live in glass houses can count their chickens in the rain."

"We'll cross that water when it's under the bridge."

[–] Blow_Me@midwest.social 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

“We’ll cross that water when it’s under the bridge.”

That is by far the laziest take on any variation on that saying I've heard so far. 10/10, fuckin' love it. Just a straight up "we'll do nothing until the problem comes to us".

Adding this one to the noggin file.

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[–] rockerface@lemmy.cafe 43 points 3 days ago (5 children)

When life gives you melons, you might be dyslexic.

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[–] Blow_Me@midwest.social 11 points 2 days ago

Light a man a fire and you warm him for a night. Set a man on fire and you warm him for the rest of his life!

[–] eightys3v3n@lemmy.ca 21 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Oh yeah! How could I forget:
"Get two birds stoned at once"

[–] nightofmichelinstars@sopuli.xyz 47 points 3 days ago (5 children)

Don't count your chickens before you put them all in one basket

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[–] carpelbridgesyndrome@sh.itjust.works 14 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (5 children)

Why does this screenshot look like a highschool teacher photocopied it from a book?

[–] eightys3v3n@lemmy.ca 10 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Well I certainly didn't make it better. The place I found it on Instagram is a fucking video of a picture so I had to screenshot the paused video of a picture 😑

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[–] Ookami38@sh.itjust.works 19 points 3 days ago

I'm fond of "not the brightest cookie in the knife drawer"

[–] null@piefed.nullspace.lol 16 points 2 days ago

One I accidentally said a while back and now use for anything that's both unhinged and comes out of nowhere: Out of left pocket

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 7 points 2 days ago

One I've actually heard is, you couldn't swing a dead horse in here.

[–] Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 22 points 3 days ago (1 children)

"Yesterday we were at the brink of abyss, today we took a step forward"

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[–] wookiepedia@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago

I got in trouble at a corpo job for saying "We'll jump off that bridge when we get there."

[–] W98BSoD@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 points 3 days ago
[–] nanometer1625@thelemmy.club 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I like to make the animal abuse idioms animal-friendly:

  • There's more than one way to pet a cat.
  • Let's not feed a dead horse.
  • This way we can get two birds stoned at once.
[–] nanometer1625@thelemmy.club 5 points 2 days ago

Nobody's human.

[–] expletivedeleted@lemmy.zip 16 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Does a bear shit in the pope's hat?

[–] Crozekiel@lemmy.zip 14 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

Does pope shit in the woods?

Is a bear catholic?

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[–] Funkt4st1c@lemmy.world 19 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

My favorite one that everyone hates is "Even a blind elephant can remember to nut twice a day"

Blind squirrel finds a nut

Broken clock is right twice a day

Elephants never forget

[–] svcg@lemmy.blahaj.zone 20 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

You: Do you know what malaphors are?

Me: Does the pope shit in the woods?

[–] Psythik@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Speaking of bridges, I like "cry me a river, build me a bridge, and get over it!"

From I Love Lucy... Ricky tried giving Lucy an ultimatum in his broken English...
"Don't cross your bridges before your chickens have hatched!"

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