Mondegreen

A mondegreen (/ˈmɒndɪˌɡriːn/ ⓘ) is a mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase in a way that gives it a new meaning.[1] Mondegreens are most often created by a person listening to a poem or a song; the listener, being unable to hear a lyric clearly, substitutes words that sound similar and make some kind of sense.[2][3] The American writer Sylvia Wright coined the term in 1954, recalling a childhood memory of her mother reading the Scottish ballad "The Bonnie Earl o' Moray", and mishearing the words "laid him on the green" as "Lady Mondegreen".

"Mondegreen" was included in the 2000 edition of the Random House Webster's College Dictionary, and in the Oxford English Dictionary in 2002. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary added the word in 2008.[4][5]

  1. ^ "mondegreen". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. September 2002. Retrieved 25 November 2020. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.) "A misunderstood or misinterpreted word or phrase resulting from a mishearing, esp. of the lyrics to a song".
  2. ^ Maria Konnikova (10 December 2014). "EXCUSE ME WHILE I KISS THIS GUY". New Yorker. Archived from the original on 17 October 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  3. ^ Carroll, Jon (22 September 1995). "Zen and the Art Of Mondegreens". SF Gate. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  4. ^ CNN.com: Dictionary adds new batch of words. 7 July 2008.
  5. ^ "Pescatarian? Dictionary's new entries debut". msnbc.com. 7 July 2008. Archived from the original on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2020.