April 17, 2007

Mondegreen

Mondegreen – Misheard lyrics

Moi’s post on ‘Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt’ is a classic example of a genus of words called as mondegreens. The term mondegreen - meaning misheard lyric - comes from Sylvia Wright's mishearing of the "Oh, they have slain the Earl of Moray and laid him on the green" as “Oh, they have slain the Earl of Moray and Lady Mondegreen”

Some other famous examples of mondegreens are listed below:-

1. ‘Scuse me while I kiss this guy/Scuse me while I kiss the sky
2. Olive the other reindeer/All the other reindeer
3. The girl with colitis goes by/The girl with kaleidoscope eyes
4. The ants are my friend, they are blowing in the wind/The answer my friend is blowing in the wind
5. There’s a bathroom on the right/There’s a bad moon on the rise
6. Gladly the cross-eyed bear/Gladly the cross I’ll bear
7. Sixty five roses/Cystic fibrosis

I have come across many mondegreens while listening to Bollywood songs but cant recall any right now. Keep visiting this space for updations on more mondegreens.

Source: www.wikipedia.com, www.phrases.org.uk

7 comments:

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

wow!!! this one was cool...awesome really...i cant think of any Bollywoodian updates either....... :)

Jas B said...

As a kid my Dad used to recite a few to us. I dunno whther they fall into the same category or not...

1. There was a cold day/Darwaza khol de
2. There was a banker/Darwaza band kar
3. Bazaar mein badhiya quality aaya/Bazaar mein budhiya ko ulti aya

I used to be pretty fascinated by them whenever my dad said these!

Radha said...

That was so interesting 666
PS: I laughed so much while reading Jas' hindi additions !! :))

Unknown said...

Mai ka laal Jaikishan & Arnold Shivajinagar

actually that also reminds me of Sir Roger Daulley. The british moniker for Siraj Ud Daullah!!

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

lol @ Jas' collection..........

suramya said...

thats a new addition to my vocab :):), jas ur mondegreens were awesome :)

AlterinG Abhishek said...

HAHAHAH
SAhi!!
@ Jas: Heya, EVen I have heard these from my granpa!!!
real good ones!!