Misused Cliches

"Behind the 8-Ball"
I listen to enough sports talk radio to bring firsthand knowledge that people in Philadelphia and its surrounding suburbs have no idea what "behind the 8 ball" means. In pool, if your cue ball is too close to the 8-ball, you're in an awkward or stuck position. From wikipedia:

"Behind the eight ball" (or "behind the eight") is a common idiom meaning to be in trouble, stymied or thwarted, in an awkward position or out of luck. It is often incorrectly assumed that the expression derives from the inability to use the 8 ball in a combination in the game of eight-ball—if the cue ball is directly behind the 8 ball a player has no shot route.

The most common misuse is the ironic "way behind the eight ball," which if taken literally and applied to billiards would actually be a really good thing, whereas the phrase is meant to be a negative. My favorite (and depressingly common) use of the idiom is when someone says "behind the magic 8 ball," as in "The Eagles are behind the magic eight ball" meant to somehow convey that they control their own destiny. This is both tragically wrong and missing the concept altogether.

In fairness, some people do get it right, but it should be a banned phrase anyway.