Mondegreen is a term coined by Sylvia Wright in 1954 for misunderstood phrases or song lyrics. Famous examples include “Lady Mondegreen” and “excuse me while I kiss this boy.” Mondegreens often have humorous double meanings and can refer to food, sexuality, or animals.
In 1954, Sylvia Wright coined the term “mondegreen” to refer to a misunderstood phrase or song lyrics. A mondegreen usually makes sense, and sometimes mondegreens are more famous than the original songs or statements they come from. Many people are unfamiliar with the term, but the word and its origins are so appealing that they warrant further investigation.
The story goes that one of Wright’s favorite songs as a child was the Scottish ballad “The Bonny Earl O’ Murray,” a song about the life and death of a real Scottish historical figure. At the end of the ballad, listeners are informed that the Earl of Murray is killed in a final couplet: “They killed the Earl of Murray/and laid him on the lawn.” Wright misunderstood the last line as “And Lady Mondegreen”, which radically changed the meaning of the ballad.
Upon being informed that, in fact, there was no Lady Mondegreen involved in the ballad, Wright reflected on the nature of the accidental misunderstandings. He wrote an essay about it, “The Death of Lady Mondegreen,” which was published in Harper’s Magazine. The term might have faded into obscurity were it not for the efforts of William Safire and John Carroll, two journalists who regularly featured mondegreens in their columns.
Most people can find examples of mondegreens from their own lives, and there are a number of well-known mondegreens, such as “excuse me while I kiss this boy” to “excuse me while I kiss the sky” in Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze.” Others include “he wore raspberries and grapes” instead of “he wore a raspberry beret” in “Raspberry Beret,” a popular 1985 song by Prince. Johnny Rivers’ ‘Secret Agent Man’ is regularly misinterpreted as ‘Secret Asian man’, while José’s everywhere are constantly confused about being asked if they can see in the first line of the Star Spangled Banner.
Learning that a familiar text or quote is a mondegreen can be quite a disappointment, since mondegreens often have humorous double meanings. The routine inclusion of song lyrics on album releases has greatly reduced the frequency of musical mondegreen, but they still creep in from time to time. Mondegreens in phrases like “a rocky leader” for “Iraqi leader” are also not uncommon, especially in quickly delivered press releases. In many cases, a mondegreen refers to food, sexuality, or animals, suggesting that the subconscious may play a subtle role in misdirecting the mind when it comes to listening carefully.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
