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KillingTime
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Recently, I have been analysing lyrics to songs. Frequently, the writer inverts and 'bastardises' common phrases and idioms to play off of the established meaning.

I have been using the term 'bastardise' as a stand-in, as well as 'mincing' as they come close to what I am looking for.

However, I am not really familiar with grammatical techniques and would much prefer to have the correct terminology.

Some examples of this are :

'It takes a village to fake a whole culture'

It takes a village to fake a whole culture

Which uses the proverb 'it takes a village (to raise a child)' and places culture in the place of a child, for negative effect.

'A participation trophy wife'

A participation trophy wife

Which takes 'participation trophy' and 'trophy wife' together.

'Like freaks of nurture'

Like freaks of nurture

Which combines 'freaks of nature' with 'nature vs nurture'.

There are probably better examples but these are some I have seen recently, Will Wood, 'The Normal Album', (2020).

Additionally, if anyone knows the term for when a rhyming word is implied by the context of the sentence but omitted because the word is inappropriate, that would be helpful.

Some examples of this are :

'Come on, Dad

Gimme the car

Come on, Dad

I ain't no runt

Come on girl

Gimme your, …..'

Come on, Dad
Gimme the car
Come on, Dad
I ain't no runt
Come on girl
Gimme your, ....

Violent Femmes, 'Gimme the car' (1983), where the implied word is a slur for female genitalia.

'As when you cut a worm in half

It still goes on without its head,

I still go on without my heart,

It's just I wish that we were,.... '

As when you cut a worm in half
It still goes on without its head,
I still go on without my heart,
It's just I wish that we were,....

AlicebanD, 'Worms' (2011), where the implied word is 'Dead'.

Thank you in advance!

Recently, I have been analysing lyrics to songs. Frequently, the writer inverts and 'bastardises' common phrases and idioms to play off of the established meaning.

I have been using the term 'bastardise' as a stand-in, as well as 'mincing' as they come close to what I am looking for.

However, I am not really familiar with grammatical techniques and would much prefer to have the correct terminology.

Some examples of this are :

'It takes a village to fake a whole culture'

Which uses the proverb 'it takes a village (to raise a child)' and places culture in the place of a child, for negative effect.

'A participation trophy wife'

Which takes 'participation trophy' and 'trophy wife' together.

'Like freaks of nurture'

Which combines 'freaks of nature' with 'nature vs nurture'.

There are probably better examples but these are some I have seen recently, Will Wood, 'The Normal Album', (2020).

Additionally, if anyone knows the term for when a rhyming word is implied by the context of the sentence but omitted because the word is inappropriate, that would be helpful.

Some examples of this are :

'Come on, Dad

Gimme the car

Come on, Dad

I ain't no runt

Come on girl

Gimme your, …..'

Violent Femmes, 'Gimme the car' (1983), where the implied word is a slur for female genitalia.

'As when you cut a worm in half

It still goes on without its head,

I still go on without my heart,

It's just I wish that we were,.... '

AlicebanD, 'Worms' (2011), where the implied word is 'Dead'.

Thank you in advance!

Recently, I have been analysing lyrics to songs. Frequently, the writer inverts and 'bastardises' common phrases and idioms to play off of the established meaning.

I have been using the term 'bastardise' as a stand-in, as well as 'mincing' as they come close to what I am looking for.

However, I am not really familiar with grammatical techniques and would much prefer to have the correct terminology.

Some examples of this are :

It takes a village to fake a whole culture

Which uses the proverb 'it takes a village (to raise a child)' and places culture in the place of a child, for negative effect.

A participation trophy wife

Which takes 'participation trophy' and 'trophy wife' together.

Like freaks of nurture

Which combines 'freaks of nature' with 'nature vs nurture'.

There are probably better examples but these are some I have seen recently, Will Wood, 'The Normal Album', (2020).

Additionally, if anyone knows the term for when a rhyming word is implied by the context of the sentence but omitted because the word is inappropriate, that would be helpful.

Some examples of this are :

Come on, Dad
Gimme the car
Come on, Dad
I ain't no runt
Come on girl
Gimme your, ....

Violent Femmes, 'Gimme the car' (1983), where the implied word is a slur for female genitalia.

As when you cut a worm in half
It still goes on without its head,
I still go on without my heart,
It's just I wish that we were,....

AlicebanD, 'Worms' (2011), where the implied word is 'Dead'.

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What is the term for the 'bastardisation' of common phrases and idioms?

Recently, I have been analysing lyrics to songs. Frequently, the writer inverts and 'bastardises' common phrases and idioms to play off of the established meaning.

I have been using the term 'bastardise' as a stand-in, as well as 'mincing' as they come close to what I am looking for.

However, I am not really familiar with grammatical techniques and would much prefer to have the correct terminology.

Some examples of this are :

'It takes a village to fake a whole culture'

Which uses the proverb 'it takes a village (to raise a child)' and places culture in the place of a child, for negative effect.

'A participation trophy wife'

Which takes 'participation trophy' and 'trophy wife' together.

'Like freaks of nurture'

Which combines 'freaks of nature' with 'nature vs nurture'.

There are probably better examples but these are some I have seen recently, Will Wood, 'The Normal Album', (2020).

Additionally, if anyone knows the term for when a rhyming word is implied by the context of the sentence but omitted because the word is inappropriate, that would be helpful.

Some examples of this are :

'Come on, Dad

Gimme the car

Come on, Dad

I ain't no runt

Come on girl

Gimme your, …..'

Violent Femmes, 'Gimme the car' (1983), where the implied word is a slur for female genitalia.

'As when you cut a worm in half

It still goes on without its head,

I still go on without my heart,

It's just I wish that we were,.... '

AlicebanD, 'Worms' (2011), where the implied word is 'Dead'.

Thank you in advance!