Suzanne in ABQ Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 What is the word used to describe incorrect lyrics created by people who can't understand the lyrics so they just sing what they think they hear? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellifera33 Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 Mondegreen? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Mousie Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 Mellifera's got it - it's a Lady Mondegreen. I don't have a cite for this, but: A mondegreen (also sometimes spelled "mondagreen") is the mishearing (usually accidental) of a phrase, such that it acquires a new meaning.The word "mondegreen" is itself a mondegreen. The American writer Sylvia Wright coined it in an essay "The Death of Lady Mondegreen", which was published in Harper's Magazine in Nov. 1954. She wrote: When I was a child, my mother used to read aloud to me from Percy's Reliques. One of my favorite poems began, as I remember: Ye Highlands and ye Lowlands, Oh, where hae ye been? They hae slain the Earl Amurray, [sic] And Lady Mondegreen.The actual line is "And laid him on the green", from the anonymous 17th century ballad "The Bonnie Earl O' Murray". 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne in ABQ Posted August 20, 2016 Author Share Posted August 20, 2016 Thank you! my 20yodd and I were laughing at some common mondegreens, and wanted to look up more, but I couldn't remember that word. She didn't even know there was a word for it. I knew you wouldn't let me down. I even got a history lesson! Maybe that will help me remember the word. Yay! I'm off to look up some mondegreens to show dd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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