mondegreen

noun. A misheard lyric in a song. The term comes from an old song which contains the lyric "They slew the Earl of Moray and laid him on the green." It was commonly misheard as "They slew the Earl of Moray and Lady Mondegreen."

"There's a bathroom on the right" is a mondegreen of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "There's a bad moon on the rise."
"Louie, Louie" is full of mondegreens.

mondegreen by Apathygrrl September 25, 2005

mondegreen

A mondegreen (also sometimes spelled "mondagreen") is the accidental mishearing of a phrase in a poem, or song in such a way that it acquires a new, and usually humourous meaning.

In "The Death of Lady Mondegreen" from Harper's Magazine November 1954, the American writer Sylvia Wright coined it:

Ye Highlands and ye Lowlands,
Oh, where hae ye been?
They have slain the Earl of Murray,
And Lady Mondegreen.

actually, the line should have been:

And laid him on the green.

mondegreen by Bob "A" February 4, 2007

mondegreen

A misheard song lyric or occasionally other utterance. The funnier the better. Originated when the seventeenth century ballad "The Bonnie Earl of Moray" was misheard; "they have slain the Earl of Moray/ and laid him on the green", became "They have slain the Earl of Moray/ And Lady Mondegreen".

Examples of mondegreens:

The ants are my friends, they're blowing in the wind. (After Bob Dylan).

They've all come to look for a miracle. (from "America", by Paul Simon.)

Jumbled shack flash is a gas, gas, gas. (Rolling Stones.)

Lock the cash box, lock the cash box. (The Clash, "Rock the Casbah".)

Olive, the other reindeer. ("Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer".)

There's a bathroom on the right. (Originally "there's a bad moon on the rise", from "Bad Moon Rising" by Credence Clearwater Revival.)

The girl with colitis goes by. (The Beatles.)

Jose, can you see? ("The Star-Spangled Banner".)

Blessed art thou, a monk swimming. (Catholic prayer "Hail Mary".)

mondegreen by Fearman November 19, 2007

Mondegreen

The term for misunderstood song lyrics

In the song by Elton John where he sang 'Lay me down on sheets of linen', I thought he was saying 'Lay me down and shoot some lemons', which is a mondegreen.

Mondegreen by allthenamesiwantedweretaken December 14, 2014

mondegreen

A misheard song lyric. A symptom of word"kiss this guy" syndrome/word

mondegreen by Cimmerian Southpaw October 13, 2003

mondegreen

The color green with a little "monde" in it.

"Yo Trevor, what's your favorite color?"
"My favorite color is mondegreen."
"Interesting color, my man."

mondegreen by Scikoop75 December 26, 2020

Lady mondegreen

This term means mis heard lyric. Basically a woman in 1954 was listening to a scottish song where one of the actual lyrics were: they "laid him on the green"the woman however misheard it as lady mondegreen and the term came to represent any misheard lyric

In jimmy hendrixs "purple haze"people inevitably hear one of the lyrics as "'scuse me while I kiss this guy!"definite example of a Lady mondegreen for sure!

Lady mondegreen by 4realazitgits March 28, 2021