Mondegreens: What Did I Hear?

Remember when you were in elementary school, and the first person in the class whispered in your ear, “Miss Watson is skinny. Pass it on”? And by the time the last person in the class heard it,  the sentence had changed to, “Your mother wears Army boots”? I believe that game was called Rumor. Well, that is sort of what a mondegreen is: misheard words. Before we continue, let’s differentiate between mondegreens and malapropisms.

• Malapropism – Something that is pronounced incorrectly. 
• Mondegreen – Something that  is heard incorrectly,

Most mondegreens seem to be song lyrics because they are listened to, but usually not seen and read.  But words, idioms, and phrases can  be misheard and repeated  incorrectly too.

If you are unfamiliar with the words to our national anthem, you might interpret the beginning as, “Jose, can you see . . . .” 

Here are some examples of mondegreens: The person is saying or singing the correct things, but the listener hears something else.

• chest of drawers (it’s a bureau for you youngins) – heard as Chester Drawers (who is he???)
• intents and purposes – heard as intensive purposes
• nipped in the bud – heard as nipped in the butt
• euthanasia – heard as youth in Asia
• it’s a dog-eat-dog world – heard as it’s a doggy dog world
• Sistine Chapel – heard as Sixteenth Chapel
• statute of limitations – heard as statue of limitations
• Creedence Clearwater singing, “There’s a bad moon on the rise” – heard as, “There’s a bathroom on the right”
• Jimi Hendrix singing, “Excuse me while I kiss the sky” – heard as,“Excuse me while I kiss this guy”
• Bob Dylan singing, “The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind – heard as, “The ants are my friends; they’re blowin’ in the wind”
• Maria Muldaur singing, “Midnight at the oasis” – heard as, “Midnight after you’re wasted”
• The Beatles singing, “The girl with kaleidoscope eyes” – heard as, “The girl with colitis goes by”
• Chumbawumba singing, “I get knocked down but I get up again”  – heard as, “I got no towel; I hung it up again”
• Crystal Gayle singing, “Don’t it make my brown eyes blue” – heard as, “Donuts make my brown eyes blue”
• Juice Newton singing, “Just touch my cheek before you leave me, Baby,” – heard as, “Just brush my teeth before y0u leave me, Baby”
• Elton John singing, “Hold me closer, tiny dancer ” – heard as, “Hold me closer, Tony Danza”
• Sir Mix-A-Lot singing, “I like big butts and I can not lie” – heard as, “I like big butts in a can of limes”
• Queen singing,”Kicking your can all over the place” – heard as, “Kicking your cat all over the place”
• CeeLo Green singing, “I guess he’s an Xbox, and I’m more Atari” – heard as, “I guess he’s an expert, and I’m more an attorney”
• Eddie Money singing, “I’ve got two tickets to paradise” – heard as, “I’ve got two chickens to paralyze”

Origin of the word mondegreen?

The term was coined in Harper’s Bazaar in November 1954.  In an article, Sylvia Wright recalled a childhood mishearing. When she was young, her mother would read a poem to her. The words were, “Ye Highland and Ye Lowlands / Oh where have you been? / They have slain the Earl o’Moray / And laid him on the green.” Wright, however, heard the last line as “And Lady Mondegreen.”