mondegreen en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈmɑndəɡɹiːn/ (US)
- /ˈmɒndəɡɹiːn/ (UK)
- mŏnd′əgrēn
- (US) audio
Etymology
Coined by American journalist and editor Sylvia Wright in 1954 in Harper's Magazine from mishearing a line in the Scottish ballad The Bonnie Earl o' Moray: “They have slain the Earl o' Moray, / And laid him on the green”, the second line being misheard as, “And Lady Mondegreen”.
Meanings
-
A form of (possibly intentional) error arising from mishearing a spoken or sung phrase, possibly in a different language.
Our report of a relative who, as a child, thought the classic version of the Lord's Prayer began "Our father, a chart in heaven, Harold be thy name" stated that this type of mistake is known as an eggcorn. A number of readers have suggested that instances like this in which a whole phrase rather than just a word is misheard, should be called mondegreens rather than eggcorns.
2006 November 18, “Feedback”, in New Scientist, archived from the original on 24 May 2016, page 218:The title lyric ["Bei Mir Bistu Shein"], the only part of the original Yiddish preserved by Cahn, was a mondegreen waiting to happen—“My Mere Bits of Shame” and “My Beer, Mr. Shane” were among the earliest recorded mishearings—but the language barrier didn't […]
2012, Gary Rosen, Unfair to Genius: The Strange and Litigious Career of Ira B. Arnstein, Oxford University Press, →ISBN:
- (rare) A misunderstanding of a written or spoken phrase as a result of multiple definitions.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| mondegreens | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
catachresis · eggcorn · malapropism
Relateds
soramimi · daffynition · folk etymology · Hobson-Jobson
Synonyms
Translations (19)
cmn 空耳 (mishearing) · ja 幻聴 (mishearing) · fi väärin kuuleminen (mishearing) · nl mama appelsap (mishearing) · ru ослы́шка (mishearing) · ko 몬더그린 (mishearing) · pt virundum (mishearing) · pt tiocidade (mishearing) · de Verhörer (mishearing) · ja モンデグリーン (mishearing) · id salah dengar (mishearing) · ko 헛들음 (mishearing) · nl mondegreen (mishearing) · pl przesłyszenie (mishearing) · cmn 幻聽 /幻听 (mishearing) · ja 空耳 (mishearing) · ko 환청 (mishearing) · es pomporruta (mishearing) · eo misaŭdo (mishearing)