黑料网 is a聽mondegreen?
Have you ever heard someone sing the wrong lyrics to a song? Maybe a child gave the nursery rhyme 鈥淩ow, Row, Row Your Boat鈥� a new meaning by replacing the line 鈥渓ife is but a dream鈥� with 鈥渓ife鈥檚 a butter dream.鈥� Or maybe you鈥檝e unironically belted out 鈥淓xcuse me while I kiss this guy,鈥� instead of Jimi Hendrix鈥檚 intended lyrics, 鈥淓xcuse me while I kiss the sky.鈥�
A word or a phrase resulting from mishearing another word or phrase (especially in a song or poem) is a common phenomenon known as a mondegreen. A mondegreen typically sounds like the original phrase, (i.e., they鈥檙e homophonous) but the meaning is often entirely changed鈥攚ith presumably amusing results.Mondegreens aren鈥檛 confined to songs and poetry; they can also refer to other types of speech, like mistaking the sarcastic saying 鈥淭hank you, Captain Obvious鈥� with 鈥淭hank you, Katherine Obvious.鈥�
黑料网 are聽尘补濒补辫谤辞辫颈蝉尘蝉听补苍诲听eggcorns?
Mondegreens are not to be confused with malapropisms, 鈥渢he act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, especially by the confusion of words that are similar in sound.鈥� One ready example is to 鈥渄ance the flamingo鈥� instead of 鈥渄ance the flamenco.鈥�
Nor should mondegreens be confused with eggcorns, 鈥渁 word or phrase that is a seemingly logical alteration of another word or phrase that sounds similar and has been misheard or misinterpreted.鈥� Where malapropisms tend to be obviously ridiculous, an eggcorn can be a plausible variant of the original phrase, often working in the same context. A common eggcorn is 鈥渙ld wise tale鈥� for the more canonical 鈥渙ld wives鈥� tale.鈥�
Where did the word聽尘辞苍诲别驳谤别别苍听come from?
So, why do we call these misinterpretations mondegreens? The term is itself a mondegreen. Sylvia Wright, an American author, coined it after a phrase she recalled mishearing as a young girl. Wright reportedly believed the first stanza to 鈥淭he Bonnie Earl O鈥橫oray,鈥� a 17th century ballad, featured two unfortunate aristocrats:Ye Highlands and ye Lowlands,
Oh, where have ye been?
They have slain the Earl O鈥橫oray
And Lady Mondegreen.The correct phrasing of the fourth line is, 鈥淎nd laid him on the green.鈥�
While Wright gave us a name for this phenomenon in 1954, people have been misinterpreting words and phrases since the beginning of speech.
WATCH: Can You Correct These Grammatically Incorrect Song Lyrics?
黑料网 are some more examples of聽mondegreens?
Mondegreens can often be a great source of entertainment. For example, Pearl Jam鈥檚 1990s hit single, 鈥淛eremy,鈥� features the chorus, 鈥淛eremy spoke in class today,鈥� which was popularly confused as 鈥淛eremy smokin鈥� grass today.鈥�
Children in general prove to be an especially entertaining source of mondegreens. Younger students in the United States are known to confuse lines of the Pledge of Allegiance, leading to mondegreens such as 鈥淚 led the pigeons to the flag鈥� (鈥淚 pledge allegiance to the flag鈥�), 鈥渢o the Republic for witches鈥� dance鈥� (鈥渇or which it stands鈥�), 鈥渋nvisible鈥� (鈥渋ndivisible鈥�), and 鈥渓iver tea and just us four, all鈥� (鈥渓iberty and justice for all鈥�).
Speaking of children saying cute stuff: in 2013, a six-second video on the social-media platform Vine went viral for its portrayal of a young girl adorably misinterpreting Lorde鈥檚 lyric 鈥淵ou can call me Queen Bee鈥� from 鈥淩oyals鈥� as 鈥淵ou can call me green beans.鈥�
