| Definitions | | mondegreen |
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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.
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")
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