Going up a niche

I wrote yesterday about a word which somehow arrived in my head, a semi-portmanteau word combing ‘tend to’ and ‘ramble’, to get ‘temble’ and it reminded me again of a wonderful and hilarious time of my life… I’ve shared this before, but…

Many years ago when I had a day job, there was a member of the team, a senior member who was a lovely person but had a tendency to mix metaphors, adopt Mr Spooner’s way of expressing himself, and generally not always hear what was coming out of their mouth! I know I have shared some of these before, but I can’t help but laugh when I look at them again.

I haven’t include the most spectacular flights of linguistic creativeness ( “a gunpowder plot boy” – who knows what was meant? An anarchist? He liked playing with fire? Who now knows?) but here is just a selection:

• A three man snake
• Bare-buckle knoxing
• Bend over backwards and make a rod for your own back
• Bobfoc, you’ll know it when you know it
• bushy eyed and bright tailed
• Can’t see the light for the trees
• Handed a spoon to redeem himself
• He sets himself up as a tangent
• I don’t want this to go between these two walls
• It’s good to have bolts and braces
• Lying out of his seat.
• Oh that old cherry (chestnut)
• She looks like a tinfoil turkey
• Smoke on your face (egg on your face)
• Speaking hand on head
• That was a bit below the table (below the belt)
• The ears have walls
• Thorn in the ointment
• You could cut the ice with a knife

… and from a friend who is similarly accidentally creative with language:

• keep the oils wheeled
• like casting stones upon water
• I thumb my finger at you
• a disembowelled voice