Mondegreen: the mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase as a result of near-homophony, in a way that gives it a new meaning. It most commonly is applied to a line in a poem or a lyric in a song.
I love mondegreens. I have a book of mondegreens – “When A Man Loves A Walnut” and they never fail to make me giggle. My own personal best mondegreen is my Dukes of Hazzard one.
Recently (as in within the last 8 years because it happened in Florida) I was riding along in my car singing at the top of my lungs. This is best done when alone because a singer I am not. So I’m singing…
We don’t need no education
We don’t need no thought control
No Dukes of Hazzard in the classroom
And then I stopped. And had one of those moments. Where I realize that Pink Floyd was clearly not singing about Bo & Luke Duke. Although when I was a child it made perfect sense. No teacher was going to allow you to watch the Dukes of Hazzard in the classroom. As an adult, I just had to laugh at myself. And then listen very, very carefully to find out what the real lyric was. Clearly “no dark sarcasm” made much more sense!
Mondegreen: An amazing soft and gorgeous yarn, hand-dyed by the Verdant Gryphon – 60% BFL, 20% baby camel, 20% silk.
I got to knit with this stuff on a traveling project before it was released and I fell in love. So I got in touch with Gryphon and begged for some for a cozy winter wrap I’d been meaning to re-knit up in a larger size and publish. So she sent me two skeins of “There’s A Bathroom On The Right” in this delicious chocolate brown color.
Just wait til you see the cozy, soft goodness this turned into! And get your hands on some Mondegreen so you’re ready to make your own!
There’s a country song about drinking that goes:”Two pina coladas, one for each hand, sail away with captain Morgan, and hope you never reach dry land”
I always heard: Two pina coladas, one mini van, sail away white happy motor, and hope you never reach dry land”
I’m not quite sure what I was thinking, as those words don’t quite make sense, but I didn’t know the other phrases, and that is just what I heard.
I have the same px purchased from Home Interiors in 1982 i believe. My husband got his flashlight out along with his magnifying glass and we have found the signature or what appears to be one. Look in the lower right hand corner approx an inch from the frame and you can see a signature ( at least it looks like one ) that is a green color. Looks like Bonnie Mitchell? Let me know
In the song “Another One Bites the Dust”, there’s a line (which I still don’t know the real words to) that I sing at the top of my lungs…ok, yell not sing…’I’M ADOPTED!” I mostly do it because it makes my kids roll their eyes and my husband laugh, every time!
HIlarious! I’ve always known about “misconstrued lyrics” (used to be a game on the radio in Philly), but I never knew there was a legit word for it. My college buddies and I will never forget “Baby you better call back!” (Little Red Corvette) and “Honest Lucille” (How Does it Feel by the Go Gos). Love the yarn colorway names! I also remember one time saying “There’s a bathroom on the left…….no right!”