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Nov 10, 2023 · From spoonerisms and malapropisms to blends and portmanteaus, here’s everything you need to know about the ways we mix up words in English: Spoonerism. A ‘spoonerism’ is when a speaker accidentally mixes up the initial sounds or letters of two words in a phrase. The result is usually humorous. Examples of spoonerisms include:
Mar 3, 2018 · The name for a new word created by combining and eliding two distinct words is called a neologism. However, normally that refers to a new word that makes sense when you combine two words, not an already established word that doesn't make sense in the context you intend.
- Burning the Midnight Oil From Both Ends. “I’m so stressed that I’m burning the midnight oil from both ends.” This is a mixup of the two idioms, “burning the midnight oil” and “burning the candle at both ends.”
- Heavy Is the Goose That Lays the Golden Egg. “George just got promoted to management, I hope he’s ready for it. Heavy is the goose that lays the golden egg.”
- Walking a Thin Line. “That decision seems a little risky! He’s walking a thin line.” This malaphor is a combination of “walking on thin ice” and “walking a fine line.”
- I Can Read Him Like the Back of My Book. “He couldn’t hide anything from me. I can read him like the back of my book!” This malaphor mixes up two very common idioms: “know him like the back of my hand” and “read him like a book.”
Conflate is a more formal way to say "mix together," and it's typically used for texts or ideas. You probably wouldn't say you conflated the ingredients for a cake, but if you blended two different stories together to make a new one, conflate would work.
Nov 13, 2019 · mixed up (adj.), mix-up (n.) If you are mixed up about something, it means that you are confused. “Whenever we change the clocks for daylight savings time, I get mixed up and can’t figure out what time it is.”
If you accidentally switch two people’s names when introducing them, you have mixed them up. If you add salt instead of sugar to your baking recipe by mistake, you have mixed up the ingredients. If someone gives you incorrect directions and you end up getting lost, they have mixed you up.
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If you mix up a number of things, you put things of different kinds together or place things so that they are not in order.
