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A mondegreen is a mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase as a result of near-homophony, in a way that gives it a new meaning.
Mondegreens are most often created by a person listening to a poem or a song; the listener, being unable to clearly hear a lyric, substitutes words that sound similar, and make some kind of sense.[1][2] American writer Sylvia Wright coined the term in her essay "The Death of Lady Mondegreen", published in Harper's Magazine in November 1954.[3] "Mondegreen" was included in the 2000 edition of the Random House Webster's College Dictionary. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary added the word in 2008.[4][5] The phenomenon is not limited to English, with examples cited by Fyodor Dostoyevsky,[6] in the Hebrew song "Háva Nagíla" ("Let's Be Happy"),[7] and in Bollywood movies.[8]
A closely related category is a Hobson-Jobson, where a word from a foreign language is homophonically translated into one's own language, e.g. cockroach from Spanish cucaracha.[9][10] For misheard lyrics this phenomenon is called soramimi.[11]
An unintentionally incorrect use of similar-sounding words or phrases in speaking is a malapropism. If there is a connection in meaning, it can be called an eggcorn. If a person stubbornly sticks to a mispronunciation after being corrected, that person has committed a mumpsimus.[12]
In the essay, Wright described how, as a young girl, she misheard the last line of the first stanza from the 17th-century ballad "The Bonnie Earl o' Moray". She wrote:
The actual fourth line is "And laid him on the green". Wright explained the need for a new term:
"The point about what I shall hereafter call mondegreens, since no one else has thought up a word for them, is that they are better than the original."
Her essay had already described the bonny Earl holding the beautiful Lady Mondegreen's hand, both bleeding profusely but faithful unto the death. She disputed:
"I know, but I won't give in to it. Leaving him to die all alone without even anyone to hold his hand--I WON'T HAVE IT!!!"
Other examples Wright suggested are:
Human beings interpret their environment partially based on experience, and this includes speech perception. People are more likely to notice what they expect than things not part of their everyday experiences, and may mistake an unfamiliar stimulus for a familiar and more plausible version. For example, to consider a common mondegreen in the song "Purple Haze", one would be more likely to hear somebody recalling they kissed this guy than saying that they were about to kiss the sky.[13] Similarly, if a lyric uses words that the listener is unfamiliar with, they may be misheard as using more familiar terms.
The creation of mondegreens may be driven in part by a phenomenon akin to cognitive dissonance, as the listener may find it psychologically uncomfortable to listen to a song and not be able to make out the words, particularly if the listener is fluent in the language of the lyrics. Steven Connor suggests that mondegreens are the result of the brain's constant attempts to make sense of the world by making assumptions to fill in the gaps when it cannot clearly determine what it is hearing. Connor sees mondegreens as the "wrenchings of nonsense into sense".[1]
On the other hand, Steven Pinker has observed that mondegreen mishearings tend to be less plausible than the original lyrics, and that once a listener has "locked in" to a particular misheard interpretation of a song's lyrics, it can remain unquestioned, even when that plausibility becomes strained (for more on this sort of stubbornness, see Mumpsimus). Pinker gives the example of a student "stubbornly" mishearing the chorus to "I'm Your Venus" as I'm your penis, and being surprised that the song was allowed on the radio.[14]
James Gleick claims that the mondegreen is a distinctly modern phenomenon. Although people have no doubt misconstrued song lyrics for as long as songs have been sung, without improved communication and the language standardization that accompanies it, he believes there would have been no way to recognize and discuss this shared experience.[15] Since time immemorial, songs have been passed on by word of mouth. Just as mondegreens transform songs based on experience, a folk song learned by repetition of heard lyrics is often transformed over time when sung by people in a country where some of the song's references have become obscure. A classic example is "The Golden Vanity", which contains the line "As she sailed upon the lowland sea". The song was carried to Appalachia by immigrants from England, where singers, not knowing what the lowland sea refers to, transformed it over generations from "lowland" to "lonesome".[16]
The top three mondegreens submitted regularly to mondegreen expert Jon Carroll are:[1]
Both Creedence's John Fogerty and Hendrix eventually acknowledged these mishearings by deliberately singing the "mondegreen" versions of their songs in concert.[18][19][20]
Likewise, on the video for the 2000 Zoom concert with a re-formed Electric Light Orchestra, Jeff Lynne on the song "Showdown" sings "It's a real submarine,"' a common mishearing of his original lyrics "It's unreal suffering."
The 1963 song "Louie Louie" by The Kingsmen, actually a sea shanty, was so difficult to understand, because of how poorly the Kingsmen's version of it was recorded, that many people suspected the song contained obscene lyrics. The FBI was asked to investigate whether or not those involved with the song violated laws against the interstate transportation of obscene material. The most notable misinterpretation of the lyrics presented by the parent who sent the complaint can be found in the verse "Me see Jamaica moon above; / It won't be long me see me love. / Me take her in my arms and then / I tell her I never leave again."[21] which was misheard as "She had a rag on, she moved above. / It won't be long, she'll slip it off. / I held her in my arms and then, / and I told her I'd rather lay her again." No lyrics were ever officially published for the song, and after two years of investigation, the FBI concluded that the lyrics were unintelligible.[22]
Rap and hip hop lyrics may be particularly susceptible to being misheard because they do not necessarily follow standard American pronunciations. The delivery of rap lyrics relies heavily upon an often regional pronunciation or non-traditional accenting of words and their phonemes to adhere to the artist's stylizations and the lyrics's written structure. This issue is exemplified in controversies over alleged transcription errors in Yale University Press's 2010 Anthology of Rap.[23]
"Blinded by the Light", a cover of a Bruce Springsteen song by Manfred Mann's Earth Band, contains what has been called "probably the most misheard lyric of all time."[24] The phrase "revved up like a deuce" (altered from Springsteen's original "cut loose like a deuce", both lyrics referring to the hot rodders slang for a 1932 Ford coupé) is frequently misheard as "wrapped up like a douche".[24][25] Springsteen himself has joked about the phenomenon, claiming that it was not until Manfred Mann rewrote the song to be about a "feminine hygiene product" that the song became popular.[26][2]
Sometimes, the modified version of a lyric becomes standard, as is the case with "The Twelve Days of Christmas". The original has "four colly birds"[27] (colly means black); sometime around the turn of the twentieth century, these became calling birds, which is the lyric used in the 1909 Frederic Austin version.[3]
A number of misheard lyrics have been recorded, turning a mondegreen into a real title. They include:
Ghil'ad Zuckermann cites the Hebrew example mukhrakhím liyót saméakh ("we must be happy", with a grammar mistake) instead of (the high-register) úru 'akhím belév saméakh ("wake up, brothers, with a happy heart"), from the well-known song "Háva Nagíla" (Let’s be happy)."[30] The Israeli site dedicated to Hebrew mondegreens has coined the term "avatiach" (Hebrew for watermelon) for "mondegreen", named for a common mishearing of Shlomo Artzi's award-winning 1970 song "Ahavtia" ("I loved her", using a form uncommon in spoken Hebrew).[31]
The title of the 1983 French novel Le Thé au harem d'Archi Ahmed ("Tea in the Harem of Archi Ahmed") by Mehdi Charef (and the 1985 movie of the same name) is based on the main character mishearing le théorème de Archimède ("the theorem of Archimedes") in his mathematics class.
The title of the film La Vie en rose depicting the life of Edith Piaf can be mistaken for "L'Avion rose" (The pink airplane).[32][33]
A classic example in French is similar to the "Lady Mondegreen" anecdote: In his 1962 collection of children's quotes La foire au cancres, the humorist Jean-Charles[34] refers to a misunderstood lyric of "La Marseillaise" (the French national anthem): "Entendez-vous ... mugir ces féroces soldats" (Do you hear those savage soldiers roar?) is heard as "...Séféro, ce soldat" (that soldier Séféro).
The French word "lapalissade", designating a gross truism or platitude, is derived from the name of Jacques II de Chabannes, Seigneur de La Palice, because of a mondegreen in a mourning song written just after his heroic death (and not, as is sometimes believed, because Jacques de La Palice was prone to uttering truisms). The mourning song reads:
which means:
Because of the long "s" (ſ) looking like an "f", it was misread thus:
This truism remains as the first and most well-known "lapalissade" in French.
The title of J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye is often mistaken for a mondegreen. The main character, Holden Caulfield, misremembers a sung version of the Robert Burns poem "Coming Through the Rye": the line "Gin a body meet a body / comin' through the rye" is recalled as "Gin a body catch a body / comin' through the rye." However, since this is only a result of Holden's poor memory, and not possibly a result of him mishearing "meet" as "catch," it cannot be considered a proper mondegreen.
A Monk Swimming by author Malachy McCourt is so titled because of a childhood mishearing of a phrase from the Catholic rosary prayer, Hail Mary. "Amongst women" became "a monk swimmin'."[35]
The title and plot of the short sci-fi story "Come You Nigh: Kay Shuns" ("Com-mu-ni-ca-tions") by Lawrence A. Perkins, in Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine (April 1970), deals with securing interplanetary radio communications by encoding them with mondegreens.
A monologue of mondegreens appears in the 1971 film Carnal Knowledge. The camera focuses on actress Candace Bergen laughing as she recounts various phrases that fooled her as a child, including "Round John Virgin" (instead of '"Round yon virgin...") and the famous "Gladly, the cross-eyed bear".
In the movie The Long Kiss Goodnight, one character is singing along to the song I'd Really Love to See You Tonight and misquotes one line as "I'm not talking 'bout the linen," before being corrected by another character that the words actually are "I'm not talking about moving in."
Among schoolchildren in the U.S., daily rote recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance has long provided opportunities for the genesis of mondegreens.[1][43][44]
Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky in 1875 cited a line from Fyodor Glinka's song "Troika" (1825) колокольчик, дар Валдая ("the bell, gift of Valday") claiming that it is usually understood as колокольчик, дарвалдая ("the bell darvaldaying"—the onomatopoetic verb for ringing).[http://www.word-detective.com/back-e2.html#mondegreen1_The_Word_Detective:_"Green_grow_the_lyrics"]_Retrieved_on_2008-07-17_American_writer_Sylvia_Wright__in_her_essay_"The_Death_of_Lady_Mondegreen",_published_in_''''_in_November_1954._Drawings_by_._Reprinted_in:__Contains_the_essays_"The_Death_of_Lady_Mondegreen"_and_"The_Quest_of_Lady_Mondegreen."_"Mondegreen"_was_included_in_the_2000_edition_of_the_''Random_House_Webster's_College_Dictionary''.__added_the_word_in_2008.[http://web.archive.org/web/20080804235251/http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/07/new.dictionary.words.ap/index.html_CNN.com:_Dictionary_adds_new_batch_of_words]._July_7,_2008.[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25556393/?GT1=43001_NBC_News:_Merriam-Webster_adds_words_that_have_taken_root_among_Americans]_The_phenomenon_is_not_limited_to_English,_with_examples_cited_by_,Достоевский_Ф._М._Полное_собрание_сочинений:_В_30_тт._Л.,_1980._Т._21._С._264._in_the_Hebrew_song_""_("Let's_Be_Happy"),_[http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?is=140391723X_''Language_Contact_and_Lexical_Enrichment_in_Israeli_Hebrew''],_Houndmills:_,_(Palgrave_Studies_in_Language_History_and_Language_Change,_Series_editor:_Charles_Jones)._ISBN_1-4039-1723-X._2003,_p._248._and_in__movies.[http://www.man-bol.com/_Man-bol] A_closely_related_category_is_a_,_where_a_word_from_a_foreign_language_is__into_one's_own_language,_e.g._''cockroach''_from_Spanish_''cucaracha''._For_misheard_lyrics_this_phenomenon_is_called_. An_unintentionally_incorrect_use_of_similar-sounding_words_or_phrases_in_speaking_is_a_._If_there_is_a_connection_in_meaning,_it_can_be_called_an_._If_a_person_stubbornly_sticks_to_a_mispronunciation_after_being_corrected,_that_person_has_committed_a_. ==Etymology== In_the_essay,_Wright_described_how,_as_a_young_girl,_she_misheard_the_last_line_of_the_first_stanza_from_the_17th-century__""._She_wrote: _ When_I_was_a_child,_my_mother_used_to_read_aloud_to_me_from_,_and_one_of_my_favorite_poems_began,_as_I_remember: :Ye_Highlands_and_ye_Lowlands, :Oh,_where_hae_ye_been? :They_hae_slain_the_Earl_o'_Moray, :And_''Lady_Mondegreen''. The_actual_fourth_line_is_"And_''laid_him_on_the_green".''_Wright_explained_the_need_for_a_new_term: "The_point_about_what_I_shall_hereafter_call_mondegreens,_since_no_one_else_has_thought_up_a_word_for_them,_is_that_they_are_better_than_the_original." Her_essay_had_already_described_the_bonny_Earl_holding_the_beautiful_Lady_Mondegreen's_hand,_both_bleeding_profusely_but_faithful_unto_the_death._She_disputed: "I_know,_but_I_won't_give_in_to_it._Leaving_him_to_die_all_alone_without_even_anyone_to_hold_his_hand--'''''I_WON'T_HAVE_IT!!!'''" Other_examples_Wright_suggested_are: *''Surely_Good_Mrs._Murphy_shall_follow_me_all_the_days_of_my_life''_("Surely_goodness_and_mercy…"_from_) *The_wild,_strange_battle_cry_"''Haffely,_Gaffely,_Gaffely,_Gonward.''"_("Half_a_league,_half_a_league,_/_Half_a_league_onward,"_from_"") ==Psychology== Human_beings_interpret_their_environment_partially_based_on_experience,_and_this_includes_._People_are_more_likely_to_notice_what_they_expect_than_things_not_part_of_their_everyday_experiences,_and_may_mistake_an_unfamiliar_stimulus_for_a_familiar_and_more_plausible_version._For_example,_to_consider_a_common_mondegreen_in_the_song_"",_one_would_be_more_likely_to_hear_somebody_recalling_they_''kissed_this_guy''_than_saying_that_they_were_about_to_''kiss_the_sky''._Similarly,_if_a_lyric_uses_words_that_the_listener_is_unfamiliar_with,_they_may_be_misheard_as_using_more_familiar_terms. The_creation_of_mondegreens_may_be_driven_in_part_by_a_phenomenon_akin_to_,_as_the_listener_may_find_it_psychologically_uncomfortable_to_listen_to_a_song_and_not_be_able_to_make_out_the_words,_particularly_if_the_listener_is_fluent_in_the_language_of_the_lyrics.__suggests_that_mondegreens_are_the_result_of_the_brain's_constant_attempts_to_make_sense_of_the_world_by_making_assumptions_to_fill_in_the_gaps_when_it_cannot_clearly_determine_what_it_is_hearing._Connor_sees_mondegreens_as_the_"wrenchings_of_nonsense_into_sense"."But,_though_mishearings_may_appear_pleasingly_or_even_subversively_to_sabotage_sense,_they_are_in_fact_in_essence_,_which_is_to_say,_they_push_up_the_slope_from_random_noise_to_the_redundancy_of_voice,_moving_therefore_from_the_direction_of_nonsense_to_sense,_of_nondirection_to_direction._They_seem_to_represent_the_intolerance_of_pure_phenomena._In_this_they_are_different_from_the_misspeakings_with_which_they_are_often_associated._Seeing_slips_of_the_ear_as_simply_the_auditory_complement_of_slips_of_the_tongue_mistakes_their_programmatic_nature_and_function._Misspeakings_are_the_disorderings_of_sense_by_nonsense;_mishearings_are_the_wrenchings_of_nonsense_into_sense."_Steven_Connor_(14_February_2009)._[http://www.stevenconnor.com/earslips/_"Earslips:_Of_Mishearings_and_Mondegreens"]. On_the_other_hand,__has_observed_that_mondegreen_mishearings_tend_to_be_''less''_plausible_than_the_original_lyrics,_and_that_once_a_listener_has_"locked_in"_to_a_particular_misheard_interpretation_of_a_song's_lyrics,_it_can_remain_unquestioned,_even_when_that_plausibility_becomes_strained_(for_more_on_this_sort_of_stubbornness,_see_)._Pinker_gives_the_example_of_a_student_"stubbornly"_mishearing_the_chorus_to_""_as_''I'm_your_penis'',_and_being_surprised_that_the_song_was_allowed_on_the_radio._|_title_=__|_publisher_=_William_Morrow_|_place_=_New_York_|_year_=_1994|_pages_=_182–183_|_isbn_=_0-688-12141-1}} _claims_that_the_mondegreen_is_a_distinctly_modern_phenomenon.__Although_people_have_no_doubt_misconstrued_song_lyrics_for_as_long_as_songs_have_been_sung,_without_improved_communication_and_the_language_standardization_that_accompanies_it,_he_believes_there_would_have_been_no_way_to_recognize_and_discuss_this_shared_experience._|_place_=_New_York_|_year_=_2011_|_publisher_=_Pantheon_|_author_=__|_isbn_=_978-0-375-42372-7}}_Since_time_immemorial,_songs_have_been_passed_on_by_word_of_mouth._Just_as_mondegreens_transform_songs_based_on_experience,_a_folk_song_learned_by_repetition_of_heard_lyrics_is_often_transformed_over_time_when_sung_by_people_in_a_country_where_some_of_the_song's_references_have_become_obscure._A_classic_example_is_"",_which_contains_the_line_"As_she_sailed_upon_the_lowland_sea"._The_song_was_carried_to_Appalachia_by_immigrants_from_England,_where_singers,_not_knowing_what_the_lowland_sea_refers_to,_transformed_it_over_generations_from_"lowland"_to_"lonesome". ==Examples== ===In_songs=== The_top_three_mondegreens_submitted_regularly_to_mondegreen_expert__are: #_''Gladly,_the_cross-eyed_bear''_(from_the_line_in_the_hymn_"Keep_Thou_My_Way"_by__and_Theodore_E._Perkins,_"Kept_by_Thy_tender_care,_gladly_the_cross_I'll_bear") _|work=The_Cyber_Hymnal _|accessdate=2006-09-06 }}_Carroll_and_many_others_quote_it_as_"Gladly_the_cross_''I'd''_bear." #_''There's_a_bathroom_on_the_right''_(the_line_at_the_end_of_each_verse_of_""_by_:_"There's_a_bad_moon_on_the_rise") #_''′Scuse_me_while_I_kiss_this_guy''_(from_a_lyric_in_the_song_"Purple_Haze"_by_:_"'Scuse_me_while_I_kiss_the_sky"). Both_Creedence's__and_Hendrix_eventually_acknowledged_these_mishearings_by_deliberately_singing_the_"mondegreen"_versions_of_their_songs_in_concert.[http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2007/apr/26/leadersandreply.mainsection2_Letters],_'''',_26_April_2007.This_can_be_heard_on_his_1998_live_album_''Premonition''._[http://www.superseventies.com/faq_ccr.html_CCR/John_Fogerty_FAQ]_at_superseventies.com. Likewise,_on_the_video_for_the_2000__concert_with_a_re-formed_,__on_the_song_""_sings_''"It's_a_real_submarine,"'''_a_common_mishearing_of_his_original_lyrics_''"It's_unreal_suffering."''_ The_1963_song_""_by_,_actually_a_,_was_so_difficult_to_understand,_because_of_how_poorly_the_Kingsmen's_version_of_it_was_recorded,_that_many_people_suspected_the_song_contained_obscene_lyrics._The_FBI_was_asked_to_investigate_whether_or_not_those_involved_with_the_song_violated_laws_against_the_interstate_transportation_of_obscene_material._The_most_notable_misinterpretation_of_the_lyrics_presented_by_the_parent_who_sent_the_complaint_can_be_found_in_the_verse_"Me_see_Jamaica_moon_above;_/_It_won't_be_long_me_see_me_love._/_Me_take_her_in_my_arms_and_then_/_I_tell_her_I_never_leave_again."_which_was_misheard_as_"She_had_a_rag_on,_she_moved_above._/_It_won't_be_long,_she'll_slip_it_off._/_I_held_her_in_my_arms_and_then,_/_and_I_told_her_I'd_rather_lay_her_again."_No_lyrics_were_ever_officially_published_for_the_song,_and_after_two_years_of_investigation,_the_FBI_concluded_that_the_lyrics_were_unintelligible. Rap_and_hip_hop_lyrics_may_be_particularly_susceptible_to_being_misheard_because_they_do_not_necessarily_follow_standard_American_pronunciations._The_delivery_of_rap_lyrics_relies_heavily_upon_an_often_regional_pronunciation_or_non-traditional_accenting_of_words_and_their_phonemes_to_adhere_to_the_artist's_stylizations_and_the_lyrics's_written_structure._This_issue_is_exemplified_in_controversies_over_alleged_transcription_errors_in_'s_2010_''Anthology_of_Rap''.[http://www.slate.com/id/2275145/_Article_on_Yale_"Anthology_of_Rap"_lyrics_controversies],_Slate.com,_2010. "",_a_cover_of_a_Bruce_Springsteen_song_by_,_contains_what_has_been_called_"probably_the_most_misheard_lyric_of_all_time."[http://blogcritics.org/music/article/q-blinded-by-the-light-revved/_Q:_"Blinded_By_the_Light,_Revved_Up_Like_a..."_What?],_Blogcritics_Music_The_phrase_"revved_up_like_a_deuce"_(altered_from_Springsteen's_original_"cut_loose_like_a_deuce",_both_lyrics_referring_to_the_ders_slang_for_a_)_is_frequently_misheard_as_"wrapped_up_like_a_".The_comedy_show_''The_Vacant_Lot''_built_an_entire_skit,_called_"Blinded_by_the_Light",_around_four_friends_arguing_about_the_lyrics._One_version_can_be_seen_here:__Springsteen_himself_has_joked_about_the_phenomenon,_claiming_that_it_was_not_until_Manfred_Mann_rewrote_the_song_to_be_about_a_"feminine_hygiene_product"_that_the_song_became_popular. |_network______=_ |_airdate______=_2005-04-23 |_number_______=_62_}}See_this_video_of_the_mondegreen_phenomenon_in_popular_music.[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZhxLjDLu6Y_"Top_10_Misheard_Lyrics"]._Retrieved_18_Mar_2014. Sometimes,_the_modified_version_of_a_lyric_becomes_standard,_as_is_the_case_with_""._The_original_has_"four_colly_birds"_(''colly''_means_''black'');_sometime_around_the_turn_of_the_twentieth_century,_these_became_''calling''_birds,_which_is_the_lyric_used_in_the_1909__version.There_was_this_review_of_the_Austin_arrangement_in_''The_Musical_Times'',_November_1,_1909,_p._722: "'The_twelve_days_of_Christmas'_is_a_clever_arrangement_of_a_traditional_song_of_the_cumulative_or_'House_that_Jack_built'_type._'What_my_love_sent_to_me'_on_the_first,_second,_third_day_of_Christmas,_and_so_on_down_to_the_twelfth,_reveals_a_constantly_increasing_store_of_affection_and_generosity._The_first_day's_gift_is_'a_partridge_in_a_pear-tree';_that_of_the_twelfth_comprises_'Twelve_drummers_drumming,_eleven_pipers_playing,_ten_lords_a-leaping,_nine_ladies_dancing,_eight_maids_a-milking,_seven_swans_a-swimming,_six_geese_a-laying,_five_gold_rings,_four_calling_birds,_three_French_hens,_two_turtle-doves_and_a_partridge_in_a_pear-tree.'_No_explanation_is_given_of_any_subtle_significance_that_may_underlie_the_lover's_wayward_choice_of_tokens_of_his_regard._To_the_captivating,_if_elusive,_tune_of_this_song_Mr._Austin_has_added_an_accompaniment_that_is_always_ingenious,_especially_where_it_suggests_the_air_that_is_being_played_by_the_eleven_pipers,_always_varied_and_interesting,_and_never_out_of_place._The_song_is_suitable_for_a_medium_voice."[http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Notes_On_Carols/twelve_days_of_christmas.htm_"Twelve_Days_of_Christmas"]._Retrieved_2013-11-10. A_number_of_misheard_lyrics_have_been_recorded,_turning_a_mondegreen_into_a_real_title._They_include: *_The_title_of_the_animated_Christmas_show_''''_is_a_mondegreen_on_"all_of_the_other_reindeer,"_a_line_from_the_classic_Christmas_song_"". *_The_song_"",_recorded_in_1939_by_Christine_and_Katherine_Shipp,_was_performed_by__under_the_title_""_and_later_by__as_""._According_to_the_liner_notes_from_the_compilation_''A_Treasury_of_Library_of_Congress_Field_Recordings'',_the_actual_title_of_this_playground_song_might_also_be_"See_[the]_Lyin'_Woman"_or_"C-Line_Woman". *_'s_misinterpretation_of_the_French_phrase_"pauvre_Jean"_("poor_John")_as_the_identically_pronounced_"pauvres_gens"_("poor_people")_led_to_the_translation_of_''La_goualante_du_pauvre_Jean''_("The_Ballad_of_Poor_John")_as_"",_which_in_no_way_hindered_it_from_becoming_a_major_hit_in_1956.[http://www.jacklawrencesongwriter.com/songs/poor_people_of_paris.html_Jack_Lawrence,_Songwriter:_Poor_People_Of_Paris] ====Non-English_language==== Ghil'ad_Zuckermann_cites_the__example_''mukhrakhím_liyót_saméakh''_("we_must_be_happy",_with_a_grammar_mistake)_instead_of_(the_high-register)_''úru_'akhím_belév_saméakh''_("wake_up,_brothers,_with_a_happy_heart"),_from_the_well-known_song_""_(Let’s_be_happy)."_[http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?is=140391723X_''Language_Contact_and_Lexical_Enrichment_in_Israeli_Hebrew''],_Houndmills:__(Palgrave_Studies_in_Language_History_and_Language_Change,_Series_editor:_Charles_Jones)._ISBN_1-4039-1723-X._2003,_p._248. The_Israeli_site_dedicated_to_Hebrew_mondegreens_has_coined_the_term_"avatiach"_(Hebrew_for_)_for_"mondegreen",_named_for_a_common_mishearing_of_'s_award-winning_1970_song_"Ahavtia"_("I_loved_her",_using_a_form_uncommon_in_spoken_Hebrew).[http://www.avatiach.com/_Avatiach_-_Hebrew_mondegreens] The_title_of_the_1983_French_novel_''''_("Tea_in_the_Harem_of_Archi_Ahmed")_by__(and_the_1985_movie_of_the_same_name)_is_based_on_the_main_character_mishearing_''le_théorème_de_Archimède''_("the_theorem_of_Archimedes")_in_his_mathematics_class. The_title_of_the_film_''''_depicting_the_life_of__can_be_mistaken_for_"L'Avion_rose"_(The_pink_airplane).|year=2010|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nZs-9LSR0ZQC&pg=PA83}} A_classic_example_in_French_is_similar_to_the_"Lady_Mondegreen"_anecdote:_In_his_1962_collection_of_children's_quotes_''La_foire_au_cancres'',_the_humorist_Jean-Charles_refers_to_a_misunderstood_lyric_of_""_(the_French_national_anthem):_"Entendez-vous_..._mugir_ces_féroces_soldats"_(Do_you_hear_those_savage_soldiers_roar?)_is_heard_as_"...Séféro,_ce_soldat"_(that_soldier_Séféro). The_French_word_"",_designating_a_gross_truism_or_platitude,_is_derived_from_the_name_of_,_because_of_a_mondegreen_in_a_mourning_song_written_just_after_his_heroic_death_(and_not,_as_is_sometimes_believed,_because_Jacques_de_La_Palice_was_prone_to_uttering_truisms)._The_mourning_song_reads: :''Hélas,_La_Palice_est_mort,'' :''Est_mort_devant_Pavie;'' :''Hélas,_s’il_n’était_pas_mort,'' :''Il_ſerait_encore_envie.'' which_means: :''Alas,_La_Palice_is_dead,'' :''Put_to_death_in_front_of_Pavia;'' :''Alas,_if_he_were_not_dead,'' :''He_would_still_arouse_envy.'' Because_of_the_long_"s"_(ſ)_looking_like_an_"f",_it_was_misread_thus: :''Hélas,_s'il_n'était_pas_mort,'' :''Il_'''serait'''_encore_'''en_vie'''." which_means: :''Alas,_if_he_were_not_dead,'' :''He_would_still_be_alive.'' This_truism_remains_as_the_first_and_most_well-known_"lapalissade"_in_French. ===In_literature=== The_title_of_'s_''''_is_often_mistaken_for_a_mondegreen.__The_main_character,_,_misremembers_a_sung_version_of_the__poem_"":_the_line_"Gin_a_body_meet_a_body_/_comin'_through_the_rye"_is_recalled_as_"Gin_a_body_'''catch'''_a_body_/_comin'_through_the_rye."__However,_since_this_is_only_a_result_of_Holden's_poor_memory,_and_not_possibly_a_result_of_him_mishearing_"meet"_as_"catch,"_it_cannot_be_considered_a_proper_mondegreen. ''''_by_author__is_so_titled_because_of_a_childhood_mishearing_of_a_phrase_from_the_Catholic_rosary_prayer,_Hail_Mary._"Amongst_women"_became_"a_monk_swimmin'." The_title_and_plot_of_the_short_sci-fi_story_"Come_You_Nigh:_Kay_Shuns"_("Com-mu-ni-ca-tions")_by_Lawrence_A._Perkins,_in_''''_magazine_(April_1970),_deals_with__interplanetary_radio_communications_by_encoding_them_with_mondegreens. ===In_film=== A_monologue_of_mondegreens_appears_in_the_1971_film_''''._The_camera_focuses_on_actress__laughing_as_she_recounts_various_phrases_that_fooled_her_as_a_child,_including_"Round_John_Virgin"_(instead_of_'"Round_yon_virgin...")_and_the_famous_"Gladly,_the_cross-eyed_bear". In_the_movie_'''',_one_character_is_singing_along_to_the_song_''''_and_misquotes_one_line_as_"I'm_not_talking_'bout_the_linen,"_before_being_corrected_by_another_character_that_the_words_actually_are_"I'm_not_talking_about_moving_in." ===In_television=== *_Mondegreens_have_been_used_as_a_story_element_in_advertising_campaigns,_including: **A_commercial_for_the_2012__touting_the_car's_audio_system_shows_a_number_of_people_singing_incorrect_versions_of_the_line_"Burning_out_his_fuse_up_here_alone"_from_the_/_song_"",_until_a_woman_listening_to_the_song_in_a_Passat_realizes_the_correct_words. **A_series_of_advertisements_for__s,_produced_by_,_shown_in_1989_and_1990,_featured_misheard_versions_of_""_(e.g.,_"Me_ears_are_alight")_by__and_""_by__as_heard_by_users_of_other_brands_of_tape. **_A_commercial_for_,_in_which_a_technician_in_the_Coca-Cola_laboratory_rushes_to_his_boss,_saying,_"Put_the_lime_in_the_Coke,_you_nut",_to_the_tune_of_'s_"". **_A_1987_series_of_commercials_for_'s__was_based_on_a_joke_in_which_one_person_asks_"What's_for_breakfast?"_and_is_told_"Nut_'N'_Honey",_which_is_misheard_as_"Nothing,_honey".__The_ad_faced_protests_as_promoting_antigay_sentiment_as_humorous._Ultimately,_the_cereal_itself_had_to_be_renamed_"Honey_Crunch_Corn_Flakes." *_"Mondegreens"_is_the_name_of_a_segment_on_the_n_music_quiz_show_''''_(). *_''''_comedy_sketch_""_is_entirely_built_around_mondegreens,_including_a_taciturn_customer's_request_for_"fork_handles"_being_misheard_as_"four_candles"._The_comic_effect_is_enhanced_by_the_strong_regional_accents_affected_by_the_actors. *Mondegreens_are_a_big_feature_of_the__TV_series_'''',_where_Chuckie,_Tommy_and_Angelica_and_other_babies_misinterpret_many_big_words_as_something_else.__For_instance,__is_heard_as__machine_(resulting_in_thinking_that_money_bags_in_the_vault_have_"prizes"_inside),_they_hear_the_word_''''_at_the__and_think_it_is_"champion_chip"_assuming_it_has_a_,_then_they_lick_a__and_say:_"Eew,_this_isn't_a_chocolate_chip." ===Other_examples=== Among_schoolchildren_in_the_U.S.,_daily_rote_recitation_of_the__has_long_provided_opportunities_for_the_genesis_of_mondegreens._or,_for_instance:_"...And_to_the_republic;_For_which_it_stands;_One_nation_underdog;_With_liver,_tea,_and_justice_for_all."|date=1984|publisher=Harper|location=New_York|isbn=978-0064401753}}_The_main_character_Shirley_recites,_"I_pledge_a_lesson_to_the_frog_of_the_United_States_of_America,_and_to_the_wee_puppet_for_witches’_hands._One_Asian,_in_the_vestibule,_with_little_tea_and_just_rice_for_all."_Note_that_"under_God"_is_missing_because_it_was_added_in_the_1950s,_whereas_the_novel_is_set_in_1947._ Russian_author__in_1875_cited_a_line_from_'s_song_"Troika"_(1825)_колокольчик,_дар_Валдая_("the_bell,_gift_of_")_claiming_that_it_is_usually_understood_as_колокольчик,_дарвалдая_("the_bell_''darvaldaying''"—the_onomatopoetic_verb_for_ringing).[http://www.word-detective.com/back-e2.html#mondegreen1_The_Word_Detective:_"Green_grow_the_lyrics"]_Retrieved_on_2008-07-17_American_writer_Sylvia_Wright__in_her_essay_"The_Death_of_Lady_Mondegreen",_published_in_''''_in_November_1954._Drawings_by_._Reprinted_in:__Contains_the_essays_"The_Death_of_Lady_Mondegreen"_and_"The_Quest_of_Lady_Mondegreen."_"Mondegreen"_was_included_in_the_2000_edition_of_the_''Random_House_Webster's_College_Dictionary''.__added_the_word_in_2008.[http://web.archive.org/web/20080804235251/http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/07/new.dictionary.words.ap/index.html_CNN.com:_Dictionary_adds_new_batch_of_words]._July_7,_2008.[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25556393/?GT1=43001_NBC_News:_Merriam-Webster_adds_words_that_have_taken_root_among_Americans]_The_phenomenon_is_not_limited_to_English,_with_examples_cited_by_,Достоевский_Ф._М._Полное_собрание_сочинений:_В_30_тт._Л.,_1980._Т._21._С._264._in_the_Hebrew_song_""_("Let's_Be_Happy"),_[http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?is=140391723X_''Language_Contact_and_Lexical_Enrichment_in_Israeli_Hebrew''],_Houndmills:_,_(Palgrave_Studies_in_Language_History_and_Language_Change,_Series_editor:_Charles_Jones)._ISBN_1-4039-1723-X._2003,_p._248._and_in__movies.[http://www.man-bol.com/_Man-bol] A_closely_related_category_is_a_,_where_a_word_from_a_foreign_language_is__into_one's_own_language,_e.g._''cockroach''_from_Spanish_''cucaracha''._For_misheard_lyrics_this_phenomenon_is_called_. An_unintentionally_incorrect_use_of_similar-sounding_words_or_phrases_in_speaking_is_a_._If_there_is_a_connection_in_meaning,_it_can_be_called_an_._If_a_person_stubbornly_sticks_to_a_mispronunciation_after_being_corrected,_that_person_has_committed_a_. ==Etymology== In_the_essay,_Wright_described_how,_as_a_young_girl,_she_misheard_the_last_line_of_the_first_stanza_from_the_17th-century__""._She_wrote: _ When_I_was_a_child,_my_mother_used_to_read_aloud_to_me_from_,_and_one_of_my_favorite_poems_began,_as_I_remember: :Ye_Highlands_and_ye_Lowlands, :Oh,_where_hae_ye_been? :They_hae_slain_the_Earl_o'_Moray, :And_''Lady_Mondegreen''. The_actual_fourth_line_is_"And_''laid_him_on_the_green".''_Wright_explained_the_need_for_a_new_term: "The_point_about_what_I_shall_hereafter_call_mondegreens,_since_no_one_else_has_thought_up_a_word_for_them,_is_that_they_are_better_than_the_original." Her_essay_had_already_described_the_bonny_Earl_holding_the_beautiful_Lady_Mondegreen's_hand,_both_bleeding_profusely_but_faithful_unto_the_death._She_disputed: "I_know,_but_I_won't_give_in_to_it._Leaving_him_to_die_all_alone_without_even_anyone_to_hold_his_hand--'''''I_WON'T_HAVE_IT!!!'''" Other_examples_Wright_suggested_are: *''Surely_Good_Mrs._Murphy_shall_follow_me_all_the_days_of_my_life''_("Surely_goodness_and_mercy…"_from_) *The_wild,_strange_battle_cry_"''Haffely,_Gaffely,_Gaffely,_Gonward.''"_("Half_a_league,_half_a_league,_/_Half_a_league_onward,"_from_"") ==Psychology== Human_beings_interpret_their_environment_partially_based_on_experience,_and_this_includes_._People_are_more_likely_to_notice_what_they_expect_than_things_not_part_of_their_everyday_experiences,_and_may_mistake_an_unfamiliar_stimulus_for_a_familiar_and_more_plausible_version._For_example,_to_consider_a_common_mondegreen_in_the_song_"",_one_would_be_more_likely_to_hear_somebody_recalling_they_''kissed_this_guy''_than_saying_that_they_were_about_to_''kiss_the_sky''._Similarly,_if_a_lyric_uses_words_that_the_listener_is_unfamiliar_with,_they_may_be_misheard_as_using_more_familiar_terms. The_creation_of_mondegreens_may_be_driven_in_part_by_a_phenomenon_akin_to_,_as_the_listener_may_find_it_psychologically_uncomfortable_to_listen_to_a_song_and_not_be_able_to_make_out_the_words,_particularly_if_the_listener_is_fluent_in_the_language_of_the_lyrics.__suggests_that_mondegreens_are_the_result_of_the_brain's_constant_attempts_to_make_sense_of_the_world_by_making_assumptions_to_fill_in_the_gaps_when_it_cannot_clearly_determine_what_it_is_hearing._Connor_sees_mondegreens_as_the_"wrenchings_of_nonsense_into_sense"."But,_though_mishearings_may_appear_pleasingly_or_even_subversively_to_sabotage_sense,_they_are_in_fact_in_essence_,_which_is_to_say,_they_push_up_the_slope_from_random_noise_to_the_redundancy_of_voice,_moving_therefore_from_the_direction_of_nonsense_to_sense,_of_nondirection_to_direction._They_seem_to_represent_the_intolerance_of_pure_phenomena._In_this_they_are_different_from_the_misspeakings_with_which_they_are_often_associated._Seeing_slips_of_the_ear_as_simply_the_auditory_complement_of_slips_of_the_tongue_mistakes_their_programmatic_nature_and_function._Misspeakings_are_the_disorderings_of_sense_by_nonsense;_mishearings_are_the_wrenchings_of_nonsense_into_sense."_Steven_Connor_(14_February_2009)._[http://www.stevenconnor.com/earslips/_"Earslips:_Of_Mishearings_and_Mondegreens"]. On_the_other_hand,__has_observed_that_mondegreen_mishearings_tend_to_be_''less''_plausible_than_the_original_lyrics,_and_that_once_a_listener_has_"locked_in"_to_a_particular_misheard_interpretation_of_a_song's_lyrics,_it_can_remain_unquestioned,_even_when_that_plausibility_becomes_strained_(for_more_on_this_sort_of_stubbornness,_see_)._Pinker_gives_the_example_of_a_student_"stubbornly"_mishearing_the_chorus_to_""_as_''I'm_your_penis'',_and_being_surprised_that_the_song_was_allowed_on_the_radio._|_title_=__|_publisher_=_William_Morrow_|_place_=_New_York_|_year_=_1994|_pages_=_182–183_|_isbn_=_0-688-12141-1}} _claims_that_the_mondegreen_is_a_distinctly_modern_phenomenon.__Although_people_have_no_doubt_misconstrued_song_lyrics_for_as_long_as_songs_have_been_sung,_without_improved_communication_and_the_language_standardization_that_accompanies_it,_he_believes_there_would_have_been_no_way_to_recognize_and_discuss_this_shared_experience._|_place_=_New_York_|_year_=_2011_|_publisher_=_Pantheon_|_author_=__|_isbn_=_978-0-375-42372-7}}_Since_time_immemorial,_songs_have_been_passed_on_by_word_of_mouth._Just_as_mondegreens_transform_songs_based_on_experience,_a_folk_song_learned_by_repetition_of_heard_lyrics_is_often_transformed_over_time_when_sung_by_people_in_a_country_where_some_of_the_song's_references_have_become_obscure._A_classic_example_is_"",_which_contains_the_line_"As_she_sailed_upon_the_lowland_sea"._The_song_was_carried_to_Appalachia_by_immigrants_from_England,_where_singers,_not_knowing_what_the_lowland_sea_refers_to,_transformed_it_over_generations_from_"lowland"_to_"lonesome". ==Examples== ===In_songs=== The_top_three_mondegreens_submitted_regularly_to_mondegreen_expert__are: #_''Gladly,_the_cross-eyed_bear''_(from_the_line_in_the_hymn_"Keep_Thou_My_Way"_by__and_Theodore_E._Perkins,_"Kept_by_Thy_tender_care,_gladly_the_cross_I'll_bear") _|work=The_Cyber_Hymnal _|accessdate=2006-09-06 }}_Carroll_and_many_others_quote_it_as_"Gladly_the_cross_''I'd''_bear." #_''There's_a_bathroom_on_the_right''_(the_line_at_the_end_of_each_verse_of_""_by_:_"There's_a_bad_moon_on_the_rise") #_''′Scuse_me_while_I_kiss_this_guy''_(from_a_lyric_in_the_song_"Purple_Haze"_by_:_"'Scuse_me_while_I_kiss_the_sky"). Both_Creedence's__and_Hendrix_eventually_acknowledged_these_mishearings_by_deliberately_singing_the_"mondegreen"_versions_of_their_songs_in_concert.[http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2007/apr/26/leadersandreply.mainsection2_Letters],_'''',_26_April_2007.This_can_be_heard_on_his_1998_live_album_''Premonition''._[http://www.superseventies.com/faq_ccr.html_CCR/John_Fogerty_FAQ]_at_superseventies.com. Likewise,_on_the_video_for_the_2000__concert_with_a_re-formed_,__on_the_song_""_sings_''"It's_a_real_submarine,"'''_a_common_mishearing_of_his_original_lyrics_''"It's_unreal_suffering."''_ The_1963_song_""_by_,_actually_a_,_was_so_difficult_to_understand,_because_of_how_poorly_the_Kingsmen's_version_of_it_was_recorded,_that_many_people_suspected_the_song_contained_obscene_lyrics._The_FBI_was_asked_to_investigate_whether_or_not_those_involved_with_the_song_violated_laws_against_the_interstate_transportation_of_obscene_material._The_most_notable_misinterpretation_of_the_lyrics_presented_by_the_parent_who_sent_the_complaint_can_be_found_in_the_verse_"Me_see_Jamaica_moon_above;_/_It_won't_be_long_me_see_me_love._/_Me_take_her_in_my_arms_and_then_/_I_tell_her_I_never_leave_again."_which_was_misheard_as_"She_had_a_rag_on,_she_moved_above._/_It_won't_be_long,_she'll_slip_it_off._/_I_held_her_in_my_arms_and_then,_/_and_I_told_her_I'd_rather_lay_her_again."_No_lyrics_were_ever_officially_published_for_the_song,_and_after_two_years_of_investigation,_the_FBI_concluded_that_the_lyrics_were_unintelligible. Rap_and_hip_hop_lyrics_may_be_particularly_susceptible_to_being_misheard_because_they_do_not_necessarily_follow_standard_American_pronunciations._The_delivery_of_rap_lyrics_relies_heavily_upon_an_often_regional_pronunciation_or_non-traditional_accenting_of_words_and_their_phonemes_to_adhere_to_the_artist's_stylizations_and_the_lyrics's_written_structure._This_issue_is_exemplified_in_controversies_over_alleged_transcription_errors_in_'s_2010_''Anthology_of_Rap''.[http://www.slate.com/id/2275145/_Article_on_Yale_"Anthology_of_Rap"_lyrics_controversies],_Slate.com,_2010. "",_a_cover_of_a_Bruce_Springsteen_song_by_,_contains_what_has_been_called_"probably_the_most_misheard_lyric_of_all_time."[http://blogcritics.org/music/article/q-blinded-by-the-light-revved/_Q:_"Blinded_By_the_Light,_Revved_Up_Like_a..."_What?],_Blogcritics_Music_The_phrase_"revved_up_like_a_deuce"_(altered_from_Springsteen's_original_"cut_loose_like_a_deuce",_both_lyrics_referring_to_the_ders_slang_for_a_)_is_frequently_misheard_as_"wrapped_up_like_a_".The_comedy_show_''The_Vacant_Lot''_built_an_entire_skit,_called_"Blinded_by_the_Light",_around_four_friends_arguing_about_the_lyrics._One_version_can_be_seen_here:__Springsteen_himself_has_joked_about_the_phenomenon,_claiming_that_it_was_not_until_Manfred_Mann_rewrote_the_song_to_be_about_a_"feminine_hygiene_product"_that_the_song_became_popular. |_network______=_ |_airdate______=_2005-04-23 |_number_______=_62_}}See_this_video_of_the_mondegreen_phenomenon_in_popular_music.[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZhxLjDLu6Y_"Top_10_Misheard_Lyrics"]._Retrieved_18_Mar_2014. Sometimes,_the_modified_version_of_a_lyric_becomes_standard,_as_is_the_case_with_""._The_original_has_"four_colly_birds"_(''colly''_means_''black'');_sometime_around_the_turn_of_the_twentieth_century,_these_became_''calling''_birds,_which_is_the_lyric_used_in_the_1909__version.There_was_this_review_of_the_Austin_arrangement_in_''The_Musical_Times'',_November_1,_1909,_p._722: "'The_twelve_days_of_Christmas'_is_a_clever_arrangement_of_a_traditional_song_of_the_cumulative_or_'House_that_Jack_built'_type._'What_my_love_sent_to_me'_on_the_first,_second,_third_day_of_Christmas,_and_so_on_down_to_the_twelfth,_reveals_a_constantly_increasing_store_of_affection_and_generosity._The_first_day's_gift_is_'a_partridge_in_a_pear-tree';_that_of_the_twelfth_comprises_'Twelve_drummers_drumming,_eleven_pipers_playing,_ten_lords_a-leaping,_nine_ladies_dancing,_eight_maids_a-milking,_seven_swans_a-swimming,_six_geese_a-laying,_five_gold_rings,_four_calling_birds,_three_French_hens,_two_turtle-doves_and_a_partridge_in_a_pear-tree.'_No_explanation_is_given_of_any_subtle_significance_that_may_underlie_the_lover's_wayward_choice_of_tokens_of_his_regard._To_the_captivating,_if_elusive,_tune_of_this_song_Mr._Austin_has_added_an_accompaniment_that_is_always_ingenious,_especially_where_it_suggests_the_air_that_is_being_played_by_the_eleven_pipers,_always_varied_and_interesting,_and_never_out_of_place._The_song_is_suitable_for_a_medium_voice."[http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Notes_On_Carols/twelve_days_of_christmas.htm_"Twelve_Days_of_Christmas"]._Retrieved_2013-11-10. A_number_of_misheard_lyrics_have_been_recorded,_turning_a_mondegreen_into_a_real_title._They_include: *_The_title_of_the_animated_Christmas_show_''''_is_a_mondegreen_on_"all_of_the_other_reindeer,"_a_line_from_the_classic_Christmas_song_"". *_The_song_"",_recorded_in_1939_by_Christine_and_Katherine_Shipp,_was_performed_by__under_the_title_""_and_later_by__as_""._According_to_the_liner_notes_from_the_compilation_''A_Treasury_of_Library_of_Congress_Field_Recordings'',_the_actual_title_of_this_playground_song_might_also_be_"See_[the]_Lyin'_Woman"_or_"C-Line_Woman". *_'s_misinterpretation_of_the_French_phrase_"pauvre_Jean"_("poor_John")_as_the_identically_pronounced_"pauvres_gens"_("poor_people")_led_to_the_translation_of_''La_goualante_du_pauvre_Jean''_("The_Ballad_of_Poor_John")_as_"",_which_in_no_way_hindered_it_from_becoming_a_major_hit_in_1956.[http://www.jacklawrencesongwriter.com/songs/poor_people_of_paris.html_Jack_Lawrence,_Songwriter:_Poor_People_Of_Paris] ====Non-English_language==== Ghil'ad_Zuckermann_cites_the__example_''mukhrakhím_liyót_saméakh''_("we_must_be_happy",_with_a_grammar_mistake)_instead_of_(the_high-register)_''úru_'akhím_belév_saméakh''_("wake_up,_brothers,_with_a_happy_heart"),_from_the_well-known_song_""_(Let’s_be_happy)."_[http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?is=140391723X_''Language_Contact_and_Lexical_Enrichment_in_Israeli_Hebrew''],_Houndmills:__(Palgrave_Studies_in_Language_History_and_Language_Change,_Series_editor:_Charles_Jones)._ISBN_1-4039-1723-X._2003,_p._248. The_Israeli_site_dedicated_to_Hebrew_mondegreens_has_coined_the_term_"avatiach"_(Hebrew_for_)_for_"mondegreen",_named_for_a_common_mishearing_of_'s_award-winning_1970_song_"Ahavtia"_("I_loved_her",_using_a_form_uncommon_in_spoken_Hebrew).[http://www.avatiach.com/_Avatiach_-_Hebrew_mondegreens] The_title_of_the_1983_French_novel_''''_("Tea_in_the_Harem_of_Archi_Ahmed")_by__(and_the_1985_movie_of_the_same_name)_is_based_on_the_main_character_mishearing_''le_théorème_de_Archimède''_("the_theorem_of_Archimedes")_in_his_mathematics_class. The_title_of_the_film_''''_depicting_the_life_of__can_be_mistaken_for_"L'Avion_rose"_(The_pink_airplane).|year=2010|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nZs-9LSR0ZQC&pg=PA83}} A_classic_example_in_French_is_similar_to_the_"Lady_Mondegreen"_anecdote:_In_his_1962_collection_of_children's_quotes_''La_foire_au_cancres'',_the_humorist_Jean-Charles_refers_to_a_misunderstood_lyric_of_""_(the_French_national_anthem):_"Entendez-vous_..._mugir_ces_féroces_soldats"_(Do_you_hear_those_savage_soldiers_roar?)_is_heard_as_"...Séféro,_ce_soldat"_(that_soldier_Séféro). The_French_word_"",_designating_a_gross_truism_or_platitude,_is_derived_from_the_name_of_,_because_of_a_mondegreen_in_a_mourning_song_written_just_after_his_heroic_death_(and_not,_as_is_sometimes_believed,_because_Jacques_de_La_Palice_was_prone_to_uttering_truisms)._The_mourning_song_reads: :''Hélas,_La_Palice_est_mort,'' :''Est_mort_devant_Pavie;'' :''Hélas,_s’il_n’était_pas_mort,'' :''Il_ſerait_encore_envie.'' which_means: :''Alas,_La_Palice_is_dead,'' :''Put_to_death_in_front_of_Pavia;'' :''Alas,_if_he_were_not_dead,'' :''He_would_still_arouse_envy.'' Because_of_the_long_"s"_(ſ)_looking_like_an_"f",_it_was_misread_thus: :''Hélas,_s'il_n'était_pas_mort,'' :''Il_'''serait'''_encore_'''en_vie'''." which_means: :''Alas,_if_he_were_not_dead,'' :''He_would_still_be_alive.'' This_truism_remains_as_the_first_and_most_well-known_"lapalissade"_in_French. ===In_literature=== The_title_of_'s_''''_is_often_mistaken_for_a_mondegreen.__The_main_character,_,_misremembers_a_sung_version_of_the__poem_"":_the_line_"Gin_a_body_meet_a_body_/_comin'_through_the_rye"_is_recalled_as_"Gin_a_body_'''catch'''_a_body_/_comin'_through_the_rye."__However,_since_this_is_only_a_result_of_Holden's_poor_memory,_and_not_possibly_a_result_of_him_mishearing_"meet"_as_"catch,"_it_cannot_be_considered_a_proper_mondegreen. ''''_by_author__is_so_titled_because_of_a_childhood_mishearing_of_a_phrase_from_the_Catholic_rosary_prayer,_Hail_Mary._"Amongst_women"_became_"a_monk_swimmin'." The_title_and_plot_of_the_short_sci-fi_story_"Come_You_Nigh:_Kay_Shuns"_("Com-mu-ni-ca-tions")_by_Lawrence_A._Perkins,_in_''''_magazine_(April_1970),_deals_with__interplanetary_radio_communications_by_encoding_them_with_mondegreens. ===In_film=== A_monologue_of_mondegreens_appears_in_the_1971_film_''''._The_camera_focuses_on_actress__laughing_as_she_recounts_various_phrases_that_fooled_her_as_a_child,_including_"Round_John_Virgin"_(instead_of_'"Round_yon_virgin...")_and_the_famous_"Gladly,_the_cross-eyed_bear". In_the_movie_'''',_one_character_is_singing_along_to_the_song_''''_and_misquotes_one_line_as_"I'm_not_talking_'bout_the_linen,"_before_being_corrected_by_another_character_that_the_words_actually_are_"I'm_not_talking_about_moving_in." ===In_television=== *_Mondegreens_have_been_used_as_a_story_element_in_advertising_campaigns,_including: **A_commercial_for_the_2012__touting_the_car's_audio_system_shows_a_number_of_people_singing_incorrect_versions_of_the_line_"Burning_out_his_fuse_up_here_alone"_from_the_/_song_"",_until_a_woman_listening_to_the_song_in_a_Passat_realizes_the_correct_words. **A_series_of_advertisements_for__s,_produced_by_,_shown_in_1989_and_1990,_featured_misheard_versions_of_""_(e.g.,_"Me_ears_are_alight")_by__and_""_by__as_heard_by_users_of_other_brands_of_tape. **_A_commercial_for_,_in_which_a_technician_in_the_Coca-Cola_laboratory_rushes_to_his_boss,_saying,_"Put_the_lime_in_the_Coke,_you_nut",_to_the_tune_of_'s_"". **_A_1987_series_of_commercials_for_'s__was_based_on_a_joke_in_which_one_person_asks_"What's_for_breakfast?"_and_is_told_"Nut_'N'_Honey",_which_is_misheard_as_"Nothing,_honey".__The_ad_faced_protests_as_promoting_antigay_sentiment_as_humorous._Ultimately,_the_cereal_itself_had_to_be_renamed_"Honey_Crunch_Corn_Flakes." *_"Mondegreens"_is_the_name_of_a_segment_on_the_n_music_quiz_show_''''_(). *_''''_comedy_sketch_""_is_entirely_built_around_mondegreens,_including_a_taciturn_customer's_request_for_"fork_handles"_being_misheard_as_"four_candles"._The_comic_effect_is_enhanced_by_the_strong_regional_accents_affected_by_the_actors. *Mondegreens_are_a_big_feature_of_the__TV_series_'''',_where_Chuckie,_Tommy_and_Angelica_and_other_babies_misinterpret_many_big_words_as_something_else.__For_instance,__is_heard_as__machine_(resulting_in_thinking_that_money_bags_in_the_vault_have_"prizes"_inside),_they_hear_the_word_''''_at_the__and_think_it_is_"champion_chip"_assuming_it_has_a_,_then_they_lick_a__and_say:_"Eew,_this_isn't_a_chocolate_chip." ===Other_examples=== Among_schoolchildren_in_the_U.S.,_daily_rote_recitation_of_the__has_long_provided_opportunities_for_the_genesis_of_mondegreens._or,_for_instance:_"...And_to_the_republic;_For_which_it_stands;_One_nation_underdog;_With_liver,_tea,_and_justice_for_all."|date=1984|publisher=Harper|location=New_York|isbn=978-0064401753}}_The_main_character_Shirley_recites,_"I_pledge_a_lesson_to_the_frog_of_the_United_States_of_America,_and_to_the_wee_puppet_for_witches’_hands._One_Asian,_in_the_vestibule,_with_little_tea_and_just_rice_for_all."_Note_that_"under_God"_is_missing_because_it_was_added_in_the_1950s,_whereas_the_novel_is_set_in_1947._ Russian_author__in_1875_cited_a_line_from_'s_song_"Troika"_(1825)_колокольчик,_дар_Валдая_("the_bell,_gift_of_")_claiming_that_it_is_usually_understood_as_колокольчик,_дарвалдая_("the_bell_''darvaldaying''"—the_onomatopoetic_verb_for_ringing).[45]
The Turkish political party, the Democratic Party, changed its logo in 2007 to one of a white horse in front of a red background because rural voters often could not pronounce its Turkish name (Demokrat), instead saying demir kırat ("iron white-horse").
Some nonsensical lyrics can be interpreted homophonically as rational text. A prominent example is Mairzy Doats, a 1943 novelty song by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman, and Jerry Livingston.[46] The lyrics are a mondegreen and it is up to the listener to figure out what they mean.
The refrain of the song repeats nonsensical sounding lines:
The clue to the meaning is contained in the bridge:
The listener can figure out that the last line of the refrain is "A kid'll eat ivy, too; wouldn't you?", but this line is sung only as a mondegreen.
Other examples include:
Two authors have written books of supposed foreign-language poetry that are actually mondegreens of nursery rhymes in English. Luis van Rooten's pseudo-French Mots D'Heures: Gousses, Rames includes critical, historical and interpretive apparatus, as does John Hulme's Mörder Guss Reims, attributed to a fictitious German poet. Both titles sound like the phrase "Mother Goose Rhymes." Both works can also be considered soramimi, which produces different meanings when interpreted in another language. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart produced a similar effect in his canon "Difficile Lectu" (written c. 1786-87, when he was 30 or 31), which, though ostensibly in Latin, is actually an opportunity for scatological humor in both German and Italian.[47]
Some performers and writers have used deliberate mondegreens to create double entendres. The lyric "if you see Kay" (F-U-C-K) has been employed many times, including by blues pianist Memphis Slim in 1963, R. Stevie Moore in 1977, April Wine on its 1982 album Power Play, the Poster Children via their "Junior Citizen" in 1995, and Turbonegro in 2005, as well as a line from James Joyce's 1922 novel Ulysses.[48] Britney Spears did the same thing with the song "If U Seek Amy", as did The Script in their 2008 song "If You See Kay" and Aerosmith in "Devil's Got a New Disguise". A similar effect was created in Hindi in the 2011 Bollywood movie Delhi Belly in the song "Bhaag D.K. Bose". While "D. K. Bose" appears to be a person's name, it is sung repeatedly in the chorus to form the deliberate mondegreen "bhosadi ke" (Hindi: भोसडी के), a Hindi expletive. The 1992 song Ebeneezer Goode by The Shamen repeated the lyric "Es are good, Es are good. He's Ebeneezer Goode" to make an overt reference to use of the drug ecstasy.
"Mondegreen" is a song by Yeasayer on their 2010 album Odd Blood. The lyrics are intentionally obscure (for instance, "Everybody sugar in my bed" and "Perhaps the pollen in the air turns us into a stapler") and spoken hastily to encourage the mondegreen effect.[49]
The Klaatu song "Silly Boys" from the album Sir Army Suit uses the vocal track from a song on an earlier album, Anus of Uranus, run backwards with a new, correctly recorded instrumental backing track. The lyrics printed on the lyric sheet were written to portray a literal interpretation of the lyrics, as they would normally be heard, without the assistance of back-masking, resulting in slightly nonsensical phrases (including the title of the album) and could all be considered mondegreens. The lyrics were also printed backwards on the lyric sheet.
Notes
Citations
But whereas ordinary Mondegreen occurs within a single language, Soramimi awaa is unique in that it occurs cross-linguistically in hearing foreign songs
Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov, Protestantism, Russian Empire
Cinema of India, Mumbai, Cinema of the United States, Raj Kapoor, Akshay Kumar
Nick Jr., Nick at Nite, SpongeBob SquarePants, Nickelodeon Movies, Nickelodeon
Futurama, Family Guy, South Park, Matt Groening, Gracie Films
Country music, Jazz, Delta blues, Ray Charles, Rhythm and blues
Romanian language, Internet, Homophonic translation, YouTube, Prabhu Deva
Mattel, Linguistics, Masters of the Universe, American Girl, Barbie
Paradox, United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Alaska
Speech recognition, Computer software, Phonetics, Predictive text, Stenograph
Chinese whispers, Chinese Whispers (novella), Chinese Whispers (Ashbery book), Chinese Whispers (Waterhouse)