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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4
stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4 |
Does anyone know the meaning, or spelling, of the supposed word MONDEGREEN. I believe it means a mispronunciation of lyrics in a song that, by the perpetuation of an urban myth principle, become into use in the common vernacular. It is better shown by example. A Jimi Hendrix song has a line "...while I kiss the sky" and it was usually taken as "while I kiss this guy". If any one has any info or alternate spelling I would like to know.
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 347
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 347 |
Yes, tsuwm, but if Augusta had done what you suggest, then I (and other plebs like me, he says hopefully) would not have learnt a fascinating new word, and I would have missed out on 15 minutes of chuckling over some of Jon Carroll's examples of mondegreens. It lit up my day/week/life. Surely that's part of what this forum is all about? So, thanks Augusta for the question, and tsuwm for the answer.
Pop songs and national anthems appear to be common mondegreen sources. I'm sure I've been guilty of plenty from the former, but none come to mind immediately. I do however have a vivid recollection of my surprise when I discovered that the English (and formerly our) national anthem contained the words "send her victorious", and not, as I sang daily as a schoolkid, a curious reference to "Centre Victoria", the state which I inhabit.
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
if you find any more sites that have you chuckling for 15 minutes, be sure and let us know! 
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094 |
Yes, tsuwm, but if Augusta had done what you suggest, then I (and other plebs like me, he says hopefully) would not have learnt a fascinating new word, and I would have missed out on 15 minutes of chuckling over some of Jon Carroll's examples of mondegreens. It lit up my day/week/life. Surely that's part of what this forum is all about? So, thanks Augusta for the question, and tsuwm for the answer.
hear hear!!
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
"send her victorious",
This one used to puzzle me as well, Marty. At the age of five, I had just discovered that the delicious fruits that appear on the trees in late September are known as Victoria Plums, so I wondered why King George VI needed despatches of this fruit from his grateful subjects when, surely, he had scads of them on the trees that I had seen at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace.
I also used to hear "Poetry in motiom . . " as "Like a tree in motion . . " - which almost made sense!
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
I used to hear, as a child, about this fabulous faraway country called Vorientar, whose fabulous wealth could only be guessed at by its production of precious metals and the fact that it had not one but three kings!
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
I also like the story - which may or may not be apocryphal - of the vicar's children who held a burial service for their deceased budgie, committing it to the earth with the words, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and into the hole he goes."
I also like the fact that our revered spell checker dislikes "vicar's" and offers me "vice"
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
> into the hole he goesHilary that's lovely - if it was apocryphal before it deserves to be true by now! I chuckle as an adult every time I see a fish symbol as a bumper sticker showing religious affiliation - not out of disrespect to the faith, but because as a child we puzzled over a strange fish: the piece of cod which passeth all understanding
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
: the piece of cod which passeth all understanding
Oh, that's GREAT, mav! I think another thread brought up
Round John Virgin.
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