was wotd|2006|June|30
English
wikipedia
Etymology
Coined by Sylvia Wright in w:Harper's Magazine|Harper�s Magazine (The Death of Lady Mondegreen, Nov 1954) from a mishearing of the stanza in the Scottish ballad The Bonny Earl of Murray
:Ye Highlands and Ye Lowlands
:Oh where hae you been?
:They hae slay the Earl of Murray,
:And laid him on the green. (Misheard as �And Lady Mondegreen�)
Pronunciation
IPA|/�m�nd�gri:n/ italbrac|UK
IPA|/�m�nd�gri�n/ italbrac|US
audio|en-us-mondegreen.ogg|Audio (US)
Noun
en-noun
- A form of error arising from mishearing a spoken or sung phrase
#:Examples:
#:* �The ants are my friends, blowin� in the wind.� (�The answer, my friend, is...�) from w:Bob Dylan|Bob Dylan's �w:Blowin'_in_the_Wind|Blowin' In the Wind.�
#:* �There's a bathroom on the right� (�There's a bad moon on the rise�) from w:Creedence Clearwater Revival|Creedence Clearwater Revival's �w:Bad_Moon_Rising_(song)|Bad Moon Rising.�
#:*A popular joke has a child being asked what God's first name is, and he replies, �Andy.� He gets this name from the hymn �In the Garden� (also known as �I Come To the Garden Alone�): �Andy walks with me, Andy talks with me, Andy tells me I am his own ...� as opposed to, �And He walks with me ...� Another version has a child saying God's name is Harold, from the Lord's Prayer, �Our Father, who art in Heaven, Harold be thy name...� as opposed to �hallowed be thy name...�
- rare A misunderstanding of a written or spoken phrase as a result of multiple definitions.
See also
eggcorn
folk etymology
malapropism
Saint-Cloud Paris Match
ru:mondegreen
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