blend of sorts: "not out of the clear just yet"

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

I just heard the following on a Fox News broadcast (The anchor had just said that the Midwest was taking a pounding--with regard to storms):
                       "They are not out of the clear just yet."
The usual expression is "not yet out of the woods,"  which is what the announcer no doubt meant. He somehow got mixed up with "not yet in the clear" or perhaps something like "The weather hasn't cleared up yet."

Gerald Cohen

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