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mondegreen

[ mon-di-green ]

noun

  1. a word or phrase resulting from a mishearing of another word or phrase, especially in a song or poem.


mondegreen

/ ˈmɒndɪˌɡriːn /

noun

  1. a word or phrase that is misinterpreted as another word or phrase, usually with an amusing result
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of mondegreen1

Coined by Sylvia Wright, U.S. writer, in 1954; from the line laid him on the green, interpreted as Lady Mondegreen, in a Scottish ballad
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Word History and Origins

Origin of mondegreen1

C20: from the Scottish ballad `The Bonny Earl of Murray', in which the line laid him on the green can be misheard as Lady Mondegreen
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Example Sentences

The difficulty is captured in his recent novel, “Mondegreen,” about a middle-aged writer who suffers a breakdown when changing languages.

Just the other day, for example, people were shaking their head at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, talking about things being grown in “peach tree dishes,” which is a mondegreen of a familiar kind, and is rather shocking coming from someone who has any educational attainment beyond kindergarten.

From Slate

Purple Mountains even took their name from a mondegreen of the lyrics to America the Beautiful.

Can’t you tell I’m just a nerd who loves a mondegreen?”

Mondegreen, a misheard song lyric I can see clearly now Lorraine has gone Wrapped up like a douche, I ask what was she on?

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