Iliff-King phrasebook Iliff-King phrasebook

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definition

mondegreen noun

A misheard song lyric

Example

Examples of mondegreens:
Scuse me while I kiss this guy [the sky]
—Purple Haze, Jimi Hendrix
Bicycle pump [My simple heart]
—My simple heart, Three Degrees
There’s a bathroom on the right [bad moon on the rise]
—Bad moon rising, Credence Clearwater Revivial
Wylde Green (a suburbs of Birmingham) [Wild thing]
—Wild thing, Troggs
We built this city on sausage rolls [rock’n’roll]
—We built this city, Starship
Then I saw her face, now I’m gonna leave her [a believer]
—I’m a believer, Monkees

Origin

Verse 1 of the Scottish ballad The Bonnie Earl of Moray contains:
They hae slain the Earl of Moray
And lain him on the green.
American author Sylvia Wright heard the 2ⁿᵈ of those lines as “And Lady Mondegreen” in 1954, and it caught on. Or not (see note)

Collector

Joy – 1990s
Joy Healiff (Iliff) – offspring of owners

Notes

Arguably a fairly well known word… except, from the proportion of people who react with a blank stare, maybe not well known at all

See also

sat in a tyre | smoky hole

Submitted: 04/04/2025 by Mark ● Last updated: 04/04/2025 23:45 by Mark

any thoughts?

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