Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

Relating to intentional mispronunciation of words, I will often intentionally misspeak cliches.
It's not rocket surgery.
That's water over the bridge. -or- That's water under the dam.

Lol. May I steal that one to add it to my repertoire?

It also occurs to me that there is one phrase that fits both categories:
one swell foop.

I've spoonerized it for so long, it requires concentration for me to say it correctly.

Anne said:

Word I mangle on purpose: Walmart. I refer to it as SqualorMart. Needless to say, I don't shop there.

I use 'Dirty Queen' for 'Dairy Queen'. That's because, when I was young, in the '50's, we only had one drive in, and that was the Dairy Queen; it was filthy inside, with roaches, etc., and we didn't dare eat there. It was only used for driving around (cruising), not for eating. It is still 'Dirty Queen' to me, and I still won't eat there.