Nerd Word of the Day: Mondegreen
Mondegreen: a word or phrase that results from a mishearing of something said or sung.
First coined by the author Sylvia Wright in 1954, when she misheard the Scottish ballad “The Bonny Earl of Moray.” The lyric “they had slain the Earl of Moray and had laid him on the green,” she thought they had said “Lady Mondegreen”, hence the word.
We’re all guilty of committing mondegreens, right? To this day I still have no idea what the lyrics to “Blinded by the light” are!
Can you think of some other funny mondegreens?
Write some below and I will shoot a video on this word and included some of your best ones!
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Peter Frampton
Signed, sealed, delivered … or is it (?) Science healed the liver … I’m yours!
“Blinded by the Light” is one of the ones where the mondegreen has become more well-known than the actual lyric (and might make more sense). Although the all-time classic is “Scuze me while I kiss the sky [this guy].” Jimi Hendrix eventually started singing the misheard version in concert by changing it to “scuze me while I kiss THAT guy.”
This one is for nerds only: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtphSIeMstY
This word is just beautiful! Speaking of “mishearings” and what someone though they heard just unsmoothens a conversation – mondegreen is a word I will put to good use =)
“wife’s the same… i’m moving in… stereo…”
I used to think “Another one bites the dust” was saying “another one rides the bus”….yeeeah, what a proud moment. :|
INXS “Suicidal Blonde” Sounds like ‘soup and salad bar.’
[palm]…like coconut and she’s in my palm :lol:
that song that sings…swing on with ling a ding :eek:
Justin Timberlake “Last Night” …crossed your s**t for you
Actual lyric …crossed an ocean for you
Fall Out Boy “America’s Suitehearts” Doesn’t want to hurt her heart. Medium bliss
Actual lyric Down, set, one. Hut, hut, hike. Media blitz
Blink-182 “All The Small Things” I’ll take one lick
Actual lyric I’ll take one lift
Tears For Fears “Break It Down Again” …the beauty of the gay
Actual lyric …the beauty of decay
Hannah Montana “Rock Star” Tai chi practices, no more champions
Actual lyric Tai chi practices, snowboard champion
Jimmy Eat World “Bleed American” Soft serve sugar on the asphalt. Uh-huh littering the topsoil. Truth is…forget about your potpourri
Actual lyric Salt, sweat, sugar on the asphalt. Our hearts littering the topsoil. Tune in…The picket line or the parade
The Killers “Spaceman” And they’re sipping White Lightning
Actual lyric And they’re zipping white light beams
Matt & Kim “Daylight” We cut the legs off and our hands threw watches into the ocean
Actual lyric We cut the legs off of our pants. Threw our shoes into the ocean.
Passion Pit “Sleepyhead” And you said, we all light fires around the grill
Actual lyric And you said, it was like fire around the brim
Shinedown “Second Change” I just saw Haley’s Comet shooting
Actual lyric I just saw Haley’s Comet. She waved
Timbaland & Fall Out Boy “One & Only” Now, it starts with words
Actual lyric I wear scarves and hoods
:???: [lunch] :mrgreen: …Definition:
:lol:
“This is a term devised by environmentalists for a type of conflict (most probably a form of guerrilla warfare) due to an acute shortage of water for drinking and irrigation. About 40 per cent of the world’s populations are already affected to some degree, but population growth, climate change and rises in living standards will worsen the situation: the UN Environment Agency warns that almost 3 billion people will be severely short of water within 50 years. Possible flash points have been predicted in the Middle East, parts of Africa and in many of the world’s major river basins, including the Danube. The term has been used for some years to describe disputes in the southern and south-western United States over rights to water extraction from rivers and aquifers.” –Michael Quinion, World Wide Words, 1996-2006.
[thirst]
AFI “Prelude 12/21″ Kiss my a** and lay me to sleep
Actual lyric Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep
The Cab “One of Those Nights” …my face had been erased. Diseased
Actual lyric …my face had been erased. Decieved
Evanesence “Tourniquet” …pouring crimson red blood and peach mail
Actual lyric …pouring crimson regret and betrayal
Gym Class Heroes “Cookie Jar” They look so good when they’re seventeen
Actual lyric They look so good in their Seven jeans
Pussycat Dolls “When I Grow Up” When I grow up, I wanna have boobies
Actual lyric When I grow up, I wanna have groupies
Sara Bareilles “Love Song” I’m not gonna Raichu a love song
Actual lyric I’m not gonna write you a love song
Styles of Beyond “Subculture” Aw, here we come like a Sega Genesis
Actual lyric Aw, here it come like a scene in “Genesis”
The Ting Tings “That’s Not My Name” They call me h*e…They call me white girl
Actual lyric They call me hell…They call me quiet
The White Tie Affair “Take It Home” Put your trust on the floor
Actual lyric It’s your dress on the floor
30 Seconds To Mars “Attack” …and I am full of life
Actual lyric …and I am finally free
The Ernies “Here & Now” We just got six new lampshades, right down on the sidewalk
Actual lyric The buzz of electric lamplight from down on the sidewalk
Cobra Starship “Pleasure Ryland” Be, I’ll be right home. ‘Cause I’m, well, I’m your neighbor
Actual lyric Be, be my h*e. ‘Cause I’m your moneymaker
I really need to get my hearing checked.
(Oh, and side note: You totally have to include “If You Seek Amy” by Britney Spears)
So you know the song brickhouse by the commodores… I thought they were singing, “shake a cow, shake a cow, shake a cow now”… total mondegreen – don’t you think!
:smile:
For the longest time I thought Freddy Mercury was singing “Beelzebub has a devil for a sidewalk” in “Bohemian Rhapsody”.
Seriously.
Marina, I was writing down a band booking date and discovered that the July dates on my Marina Calendar are wrong. They are identical with the June dates. July 11th is on a Saturday, but on the calendar, it’s on a Thursday! Am I the first person to note this, or have I missed the discussion on it?
Marina says:
91.1June 4, 2009 at 3:43 pm
I know.. July is messed up!!! I’m so upset!! I made a special fix page for people to download: http://www.hotforwords.com/calendar-fix/
stone temple pilots – big empty
Her ditsy head is constant sated
vs the actual
Her dizzy head is conscience laden
I really thought they meant she was so dumb that she was always happy = ignorance is bliss. Grunge singing/mumble was famous for mondegreens.
my daughter came home from school and said excitedly that she had learned all about “maffa loofa”. who is that?, we asked. “you know”, she said, “maffa loofa king”. She was talking about “Martin Luther King”.
Johnny Nash: “I Can See Clearly Now (the rain is gone).” On my little old AM radio I used to think the next lyric was “I can see all icicles in my way,” instead of “I can see all [ obstacles ].” That was in the days of the Gary Owens Show on KMPC!
It’s “revved up like a deuce another runner in the night” .
“Wrapped up by producers and the rumors in the night.”
OK, OK, I’ll play:
She: “I just got back from a trip to France.”
He: “Great. How long were you abroad?”
She: (Indignant) “All my life,”
At the buffet table, two vampires clutched at their throats and died.
“On no,” said the waiter, “There must have been garlic in that food.”
“Yes,”said the manager, “They were victims of buffet, the vampire slayer.”
Britney Spears did a song called “If you seek Amy.”
Her song spells: “F-u-c-k-me.”
Sign at a bordello: “No self-service allowed.”
Another sign, there: “No double dipping.”
Their motto: “Back to the same old grind.”
A man brings his coat to a Greek tailor, who asks, “Euripides?”
He replies, “Yes, Eumenides?
I think we have ALL worked out the fuck one by now lol
And then of course there is the the alleged missheard last words of Admiral Nelson at the battle of Trafalgar when he lay dying with his First Mate Hardy looking on and the Admiral was supposed to have said “Kismet Hardy?” and Hardy leaned in and gave the Admiral a Big Wet One thinking the old guy said Kiss me Hardy! I betcha that surprised the dude on his death bed probably died from the shock!!! hahahahah
Hey there’s thought, Dear Teacher what about [KISMET] that’s an old fashioned word not used much today, I love the old words they were great like Gadzooks, Egad and of course theres the old Australian standby [STREUTH] what about that one dear teacher. ciao ciao
I was surprised to find out that Lady GaGa really can sing. :roll:
CCR
“There’s a bad moon out tonight” as
“There’s a bathroom on the right”
The Who
“She’s just a girl, she’s a bomb” as
“Shes just a girl, she’s a bong”
Hey dude sorry to tell you this but I think youve created your own Mondegreen right there!! The words to Bad Moon Rising are “There’s a bad moon on the rise”!! hahah but nice try tho :shock: My favourites tho have to be Purple Haze Jimmy Hendrix ‘Scuse me while I kiss the sky that comes out as Scuse me while I kiss this Guy” and Queen “another one bites the dust as heard by some another one rides the bus!”
Woooooohoooooo you go teacher
“Another one rides the bus” is actually a Weird Al parody which is probably why some people have that in their heads.
It’s a pretty funny song though “Hey! gonna sit by you, another one rides the bus!”
As for mondegreen’s Hmmm. . . some people were making funny comments on this Russian song by the group t.A.T.u Doschitai Do Sta
Someone thought that even though it’s a russian song, they were saying “Fish and pie” instead of “Doschitai”. I thought that was pretty funny
LoL my bad. Still groggy from a nap.
for years i thought the who were singing “animal strut” before i learned it was “eminence front”
STATES right on…
…[JUNE]…[serving USA] :smile:
(Ran out of reply space below)
Suzi Quatro: NAKED UNDER LEATHER
It was Dad’s fault :smile:
HOW!!!Thermodynamics of HotForWords
…Suzi… :razz:
:oops: I broke the link somehow :roll:
Suzi Q: NAKED UNDER LEATHER
I think HotforWords…Chelsea Girls “Barracuda” Live…[JAMS] :lol:
How about the concept of the “inverse” Mondegreen …. Hotel California : “Her mind is Tiffany twisted, she’s got the Mercedes bends” actual lyric (of course the bends pun is intended to match with the twisted pun (two coupled puns combined into a third meta-pun, ultra clever lyricist), which is most likely interpreted as a pejorative against excess materialism/ superficial/sybaritic/decadent lifestyle(s) prevalent in some parts of California… “Mirrors on the ceiling, pink champagne on ice….” part of the theme also, again a good alliterative/allegoric (or metaphoric?) lyric)
I always thought that song by Great White ‘Once bitten twice shy, babe’ was ‘I wanna finish my shopping’.
And The Eagle’s ‘Life in the fast lane’ was ‘Life in the Vaseline’.
But the best one I heard about was The GoGo’s ‘Our lips are sealed’, apparently should be ‘Alex the seal’.
Another mondegreen from “Lucy in the skies with Diamonds”: For the longest time I thought “girl with kaleidoscope eyes” was “girl with colitis goes by.”
What exactly are the Red Hot Chili Peppers singing in Give It Away?
Something to say about a miser? :shock: Serebro – Дыши…hows the kittens? :razz:
These three seem to be fine, at last. Maia just brought them out of the box about half an hour ago and has them resting under the desk at my feet. Pretty cool company :cool:
BTW nice tune for now, very calming
thanks…Marina was inspired by this…[dress and style]$$$Bay City Rollers – Saturday Night (LIVE 1996) :smile:
:lol:
drugs.
Lonestar’s “One more day” always left me puzzled, if not happy.
Lyrics:
I didnt ask for money or a mansion in malibu
What I hear:
I didn’t ask for money or a magic pile of food
Food is good.
I also first heard the Purple Haze lyric as “kiss this guy”, but there is a live recording where Hendrix changes it to “kiss this policeman” so I guess he was aware of the ambiguity.
:mrgreen: ani difranco “Pick Yer Nose”
:mrgreen:
Quote
“It is dangerous to be sincere unless you are also stupid.” – George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950
:oops: Tommy James & The Shondells – Mony Mony (1968)[shotgun]…[clover]Tommy James and The Shondells – Crimson and Clover :wink: dragging the line what be ok, too :razz:
When I was a kid I thought Cherish by The Association was sung Cherry Shoes
peace…sweet cherry wine
:cool:
There is a Dan Fogelberg song, “Leader of the Band.” I was singing it and my wife commented that she did not like it. I asked, why? She said the words were gross, “the leader of the band has died, and his eyes are growing mold.” The actual words are, “the leader of the band is tired, and his eyes are growing old.”
Jimi Hendrix was singing, “Excuse me while I kiss the sky,” but I could have sworn he was saying “Excuse me while I kiss this guy.” :)
Thinking of sky, how about the origins of the word zenith? Thanks Marina!
Paulo
:cool:
:cool:
I like this one much…Chi Coltrane – Thunder and Lightning
:idea: :lol: :smile:
Pennsyltucky is right. The deuce is a car, a 1932 Ford hotrod, commonly referred to as a Deuce Coupe. The original words for the song, written by Bruce Springsteen are “cut loose like a deuce”, not the Manfred Mann’s Earth Band version of “revved up like a deuce.” True, it often sounds like they are saying “wrapped up like a douche” but that’s not how they rewrote the song. Here are some other references to the song:
A lot of the references are personal, to include people he knew or had met on the Boardwalks, or had grown up around, or were just direct personal references to himself:
Madman drummers bummers – Vinnie “Mad dog” Lopez, the first drummer in the E Street Band.
Indians in the summer – Bruce’s little league baseball team as a kid.
In the dumps with the mumps – being sick with the mumps.
Boulder on my shoulder – a “chip” on his shoulder.
Some all hot, half-shot, heading for a hot spot, snapping fingers clapping his hands – Being a “know it all kid growing up, who doesn’t really know anything.”
“Silicone Sister” – Bruce mentions that this is arguably the first mention of breast implants in popular music – a dancer at one of the local strip joints in Asbury Park.
springsteen rocks! woo hoo! oops concert flashback. one of the best lyricists around.
Totally agree. I like him, Dylan, and Arlo Guthrie for lyrical power and grace.
I used to listen to a Cincinnati radio station which kept advertising for Wine and Jesus and I thought this church would do anything to pull them in. I later realized they were saying “Wine and Cheeses”.
In the middle of the song “Red Barchetta” he says ‘tires spiting gravel…’ and I could NEVER understand the rest. And I’ve Tried! Backing the tape up then, backing the CD up now! Well, i just went and looked it up and the whole line is “tires spitting gravel, as I commit my weekly crime.” Case solved!
Did you ever have an oldie you’ve heard a thousand times that you don’t know a line to and then one day you hear it, and it hits you clear as a bell? That happened to me the other day. Can’t remember the song, though :sad:
Love that song.. have a friend who thinks some of the words are “gleaming alloy hedgehog shoots toward me 2 lanes wide.” I laugh whenever I hear the song and get to this part… imagining a giant metal hedgehog.
sounds like lyrics by beck
Love this song too…
My time is a piece of wax
fallin on a termite
who’s chokin on the splinters
The alphabet song A-B-C-D….. “EL-Lem-Men-O-Pee”
Or this kid’s ditty:
Mare zee doats and dozy zee doats and liddle lambs e-divey
A kid-dell e-divey too. wooden shoe?
Beatles “Lucy in Disguise with Diamonds”
Thanks for clearing this up… all this time I thought it was
Lucy with this guy, Neil Diamond :mrgreen:
Have you seen this on YouTube? It’s a compilation of the misheard lyrics to “Blinded by the Light”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMiV5Ls_LVU
excellent xlr8tt: :cool:
:razz:
Homework:
The “national anthem” of Puerto Rico is allegedly “Hey, don’t eat the banana!” :lol:
Train’s Drops of Jupiter
Even though I know the lyric is ” And Heaven is overrated”
I hear
“Van Halen is overrated.”
Blinded By The Light lyrics were written by Bruce Springsteen, though Manfred Mann made the song popular four years after Springsteen’s version failed to hit the charts. The Blinded by the Light lyrics show off Springsteen’s songwriting talent with loads of internal rhyme and other poetic devices.
The theme of the Blinded by the Light lyrics is an impressionistic look at some of the characters Springsteen met when he was a young, up and coming musician trying to get people to pay attention to his music. There has also been a long-standing controversy regarding a misheard lyric in the song.
In Springsteen’s version the line is “Cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night” and in Mann’s version the line reads “revved up like a deuce, runner in the night”. According to Springsteen the line refers to a 1932 Ford Deuce Coupe, though in listening to Mann’s version, the word deuce sounds like “douche”, which is a feminine hygiene product. Springsteen has jokingly stated that this is the reason Mann’s version gain much more popularity than his own.
From the internet…….ROB D, love ya!
I think “In the garden of eden” is a pretty big Mondegreen.
Iron Butterfly – In A Gadda Da Vida
…and a slightly different version. <a
Thats weird.
My first link opens a new window and the second one switches the window. Maybe it has to do with that extra <a. :???:
:roll: The Beatles – Johnny B. Goode…be good!!!!
Marina’s surname, Orlova, generates some mondesgreens.
Electric Light Orchestra sings – Orlova the world
The Rolling Stones – It’s Orlova Now
Marina your lover?
Guilty as charged for eating mondo sized greens. Yeah I do that all the time. I think we all do that so often it affects our language. Might be why some words come into being for mishearing sentence. Gee now that I think about it more I’m always guilty of making mondegreens.
Hey Jude-Hey jude by The Beatles + lyrics :smile:
It this the same as soramimi ?
lady gaga : I like it rough “loving you is like chewing on books ” brintey spears: do something “someone give me my drugs so I can ride on the clouds”
This is one which caused a date of mine to collapse in giggles:-
Kenny Rogers – Baby, I’m a want you.
Lyrics: Baby I’m a want you,
Baby I’m a need you,
you’re the only one I care enough to hurt about,
maybe I’m crazy but I just can’t live without
your loving and affection,
givin me direction (misheard as “giving me an erection” :shock: )
like a guiding light
to help me through my darkest hour…
Thats not Kenny Rogers. That is Bread, whose album ‘The Best of Bread’ is the ONLY album I have ever seen by them(that song is on there). You would think a band would have to have put out at least TWO albums before a ‘best of’ but I’ve never seen it. :mrgreen:
“IF”…david gates…….BREAD Live – Tecolote & Guitar Man – 1972 (Rare)
:lol:
thank you, leonard. I knew I could count on you to corral my wayward thoughts… :mrgreen:
Mother Freedom
There are whole websites devoted to this here is a link to one of them Kiss This Guy . com
Oh here is that article, or I will now call it movie mondegreens :mrgreen:
Oh mondegreen. I’ve recently read an article about famous movie lines that was never said.
Anyway here are the lyrics to Blinded By The Light
How do you know she wasn’t referring to the one by Bruce Springsteen http://www.metrolyrics.com/blinded-by-the-light-lyrics-bruce-springsteen.html In my opinion, both links give the incorrect lyrics; the correct lyrics are: I’m hi on drugs, puke-vomit, puke-vomit ad nauseam.
“‘Scuse me while I kiss this guy” was the mondegreen from “Purple Haze” by the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Original lyrics read “‘Scuse me while I kiss the sky.” Some people thought he was gay as a result.
Here is the web site by that miss heard name of miss heard lyris.
http://www.kissthisguy.com/
Oh didn’t see this, I just posted the same.
(only a minute difference)
Hey, great minds think almost at the time :lol:
Little Bones by The Tragically Hip
I thought it said… $2.50 for an eyeball and a buck and a half for an ear. :arrow: :shock:
It is actually… $2.50 for an high-ball and a buck and a half for an beer! :arrow: :lol:
If this don’t get laughs I feel sorry for humanity :!:
‘Jimi’ song from the Butthole Surfers album ‘Hairway to Steven’ :arrow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6DgJCWkjgw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMiV5Ls_LVU :mrgreen:
Shouldn’t Manfred Mann get a special award for this?
Here’s one of my favs :wink:
If there’s a bustle in your hedgehog,
Don’t be alarmed now,
It’s just a sprinkling for the Diary Queen :arrow:
Lyrics actually go…
If there’s a bustle in your hedgerow,
Don’t be alarmed now,
It’s just a spring clean for the May Queen
Mondegreen of Led Zeppelin’s song Stairway to Heaven
Singers such as Jimmy Paige often altered the sound of words. This is so it makes sense when played backwards. This is not backmasking but true Aleister Crowley inspired reverse speech – word approximations. Scary but true :shock:
Here’s to my sweet Satan…
You can also find the fully reversed song, with “estimated” lyrics.
:arrow: kaeps desrever tuoba denrecnoc oot eb t’ndluow I :eek:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Si7xYf7ilE
How to speak backwards :twisted: :smile:
Jimmy Page wasn’t the singer, Robert Plant was. Sorry about the correction but it IS Led Zeppelin, The Gods of Rock-n-Roll!
good catch
Good Catch :?:
You mean CATCH 23 do good Led Zeppelin numbers
:oops: Correct! I was wondering who would notice my deliberate mistake first.
*Cough, cough – clears throat*
A Brownie point if you know what Robert Plant’s ZOSO means. :-)
?? :?: ??
:wink:
I looked on WikiAnawers.com and it said, “In Britain, a white feather indicates cowardice”. Is that correct? I never really thought about what their symbols mean :neutral:
Bah, you didn’t fall for my trick :smile:
The White Feather as a symbol of cowardice is a very old military tradition. I never knew that in America it means the opposite. The symbol was featured in the film “Four Feathers” and its remake.
The meaning of Led Zeppelin’s symbols.
I meant to post this link, not the other one:
ZOSO Symbol Solved.
“There’s a bathroom on the right” should be “There’s a bad moon on the rise” -from Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival
“Revved up like a Deuce” was the original lyric in “Blinded by the Light” by Bruce Springsteen. It was a reference to a 2-seat car similarly noted in “Little Deuce Coupe” by the Beach Boys.
You’re a motor inn. What’s your price tonight? mondegreen of Night Ranger’s song Sister Christian :lol:
something about a deuce, did i win?
:eek: Hey, I like this Nerd Word of the day :!: