Mondegreens
The word mondegreen was coined by Sylvia
Wright in 1954, meaning a series of words
that result in the mis-hearing or misinterpretation of song lyrics, popular
phrases or poetry.
Wright coined the word mondegreen after the imagined Lady Mondegreen, born of a line in
Scottish ballad “The Bonny Earl o’ Moray” which reads Laid him on the green.
Another example might be mis-hearing Jimi Hendrix’s line from "Purple Haze", Excuse me while I kiss the sky, to be, Accuse me while I kiss the guy.
Below are some mondegreens. Read each one with the
intent of discovering the original phrase or lyrics that led to this
misunderstanding.
A. I led the pigeons to the flag
B. The ants are my friends, blowing in the wind
C. America, America, God is Chef Boyardee
D. There’s a bathroom on the right
E. The bright blessed day & the dog said goodnight
F. The girl with colitis goes by
G. She’s got a chicken to ride OR she’s got a tic in her eye
H. Rocket Man, burning all the trees off every lawn
Now check the comments section to see how you did & to make
any comments you might be inspired to make.
Big thanks to friend Aaron Keating, for suggesting this week’s topic,
& thanks to this week’s sources: Wordnik, About Education, University of Houston, & Merriam-Webster.