Ever been caught making a V-line for the buffet table, wishing someone a Happy Valentime's Day, cruising the waters of the Specific Ocean, or singing Christmas carols about Jeff's nuts roasting on an open fire? Then you, my friend, have been the victim of a verbal accident more formally known as a malapropism or a mondegreen.
A mondegreen is defined as a word or phrase that results from a mishearing of a similar-sounding word or phrase, often in such a way that the mishearing acquires its own meaning. The word mondegreen came into being in the 1950s, when freelance writer and lecturer Sylvia Wright wrote that as a young girl, she had heard a Scottish ballad that included the lines
They had slain the Earl of Moray
And laid 'im on the green.
But what she heard was
They had slain the Earl of Moray
And Lady Mondegreen.
Her misinterpretation gave the poem a new (and more vicious) meaning, but a meaning that made perfect sense nonetheless. Writing about her unintentional blunder, Wright coined the word mondegreen and used it to describe all such mishearings. (Incidentally, doesn't this make the word mondegreen itself a mondegreen?)
Closely related to the mondegreen is the malapropism. Whereas mondegreens are mishearings of words, malapropisms are mispronunciations of words, usually with comic effect. Books and media are rife with examples of these. Remember when Mike Tyson expressed his fear of "fading into bolivian"? Or when Tony Soprano was "miffled" by his son's manic-depressive behavior towards the end of the acclaimed TV series? Or your rude third cousin twice-removed who "requested your presents at the celebration of her wedding" last month? Sure, we all know what they meant to say, which is why what they actually said is both amusing and malapropistic.
In conclusion, I leave you with the following advice:
1. Never misunderestimate the president.
2. Take nothing for granite.
3. On second thought, go ahead and misunderestimate the president.
4. Please be careful with your near-homophones. Poor Jeff really hates having his nuts scorched every December.
A mondegreen is defined as a word or phrase that results from a mishearing of a similar-sounding word or phrase, often in such a way that the mishearing acquires its own meaning. The word mondegreen came into being in the 1950s, when freelance writer and lecturer Sylvia Wright wrote that as a young girl, she had heard a Scottish ballad that included the lines
They had slain the Earl of Moray
And laid 'im on the green.
But what she heard was
They had slain the Earl of Moray
And Lady Mondegreen.
Her misinterpretation gave the poem a new (and more vicious) meaning, but a meaning that made perfect sense nonetheless. Writing about her unintentional blunder, Wright coined the word mondegreen and used it to describe all such mishearings. (Incidentally, doesn't this make the word mondegreen itself a mondegreen?)
Closely related to the mondegreen is the malapropism. Whereas mondegreens are mishearings of words, malapropisms are mispronunciations of words, usually with comic effect. Books and media are rife with examples of these. Remember when Mike Tyson expressed his fear of "fading into bolivian"? Or when Tony Soprano was "miffled" by his son's manic-depressive behavior towards the end of the acclaimed TV series? Or your rude third cousin twice-removed who "requested your presents at the celebration of her wedding" last month? Sure, we all know what they meant to say, which is why what they actually said is both amusing and malapropistic.
In conclusion, I leave you with the following advice:
1. Never misunderestimate the president.
2. Take nothing for granite.
3. On second thought, go ahead and misunderestimate the president.
4. Please be careful with your near-homophones. Poor Jeff really hates having his nuts scorched every December.
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