Veteran researcher Stephen Morse points out that mondegreens can be sighted
in unexpected places: "For years, the Manhattan White Pages carried the
phone listing: 'Bonds and Noble, see Barnes and Noble.' " Reader Eric Torjak
was in a CPR class when a friend asked him, somewhat apprehensively, "What's
the hind- lick maneuver?"
Ralph Jensen of Walnut Creek was sure that his favorite Sousa march was
called "Tarzan Strikes Forever." Tom Turner's son Bret came home from
swimming class and told his father that he'd learned the "lemon tree
backstroke." So much more colorful than the "elementary backstroke."
In Monterey, Robbie Behrens kept hearing radio commercials for "reptile
dysfunction," the solution to which is, of course, Viagra in a snakeskin
pouch.
Whereas Frank, no last name given, heard someone on KGO ask seriously, "Have
you determined how the dachshunds got into the food chain?"
Actually, it was "dioxins" in the food chain, which is either more or less
alarming, depending.
JENNIFER GESSIE OF Cedar Rapids, Iowa, heard an ad for what she thought was
a "drunken tractor pull," an event with a high amusement quotient. Alas, it
was only a "truck and tractor pull."
An unidentified reader wrote: "Early childhood memory: My family was driving
through the mountains of North Carolina, and we came upon a sign announcing
that we had arrived at Carroll Gap. The view was great. My father said that
when we had been there some years before, my sister was very frightened that
the car would roll down the steep mountainside. She had read 'Carroll' as
two words."
On a dark and rainy day, Josefa Rosenberger of San Carlos was listening to a
music station on the radio and heard the sweet-voiced announcer say that the
next song was by Hootie and the Blowfish, adding: "We ovulate blowfish in
this weather."
Turned out to be "We all feel like blowfish in this weather." Bo-ring.
JOHN JOSS WAS sure that the movie "Bagger Vance" was really "Bag of Ants."
Larry Cohen of Brookline, Mass., heard a public service announcement for the
ASPCA that ended, "If a home cannot be found, animals are provided with
human enthusiasm." The reality, alas, is somewhat grimmer.
The owner of Glenview Key and Lock (known far and wide for its eccentric
window dioramas) was telling her sweetie about the wonderful trip she took
to Redding. Said sweetie finally asked: "That's nice, but what's a snoggie?"
A snoggie, as every schoolchild knows, is one of a flock of snow geese.
Name Obscured remembers her father telling her that McDonald's was "a french
fries," which seemed evident in one way and strange in another. She finally
understood her confusion: "Every year I am tempted to mail my state tax
return to the French Fries Tax Board."
But the primary source of mondegreens has always been song lyrics, and
tomorrow's column will concentrate on them. In the meantime, please know
that I have already heard -- and reported -- "Excuse me while I kiss this
guy," "There's a bathroom on the right" and "The girl with colitis goes by."
A little late this year, but still right on time: America's favorite
pastime.
Buzz Pirates's Top 10 list of Mondegreens of Popular Music.
#10
"Lucy in the sky with Linus" - The Beatles, Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds
[actual lyric: "Lucy in the sky with diamonds"]
#9
"It doesn't make a difference if we're naked or not" - Bon Jovi, Living On A
Prayer
[actual lyric: "It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not"]
#8
"I'll never leave your pizza burning." - Rolling Stones, Beast of Burden
[actual lyric: "I'll never be your beast of burden"]
#7
"Hold me closer Tony Danza" - Elton John
, Tiny Dancer
[actual lyric: "Hold me closer Tiny Dancer"]
#6
"Got my first real sex dream. Thought I was 5 at the time." - Bryan Adams,
Summer of '69
[actual lyric: "Got my first real six string. Bought it at the five and
dime."]
#5
"Here we are now, in containers" - Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit
[actual lyric: "Here we are now, entertain us"]
#4
"All of those tunas covered with oil" - Jimmy Buffet, Margaritaville
[actual lyric: "All of the tourists covered with oil"]
#3
"Excuse me while I kiss this guy" - Jimmy Hendrix, Purple Haze
[actual lyric: "Excuse me while I kiss the sky"]
#2
"There's a bathroom on the right" - Credence Clearwater Revival, Bad Moon
Rising
[actual lyric: "There's a bad moon on the rise."]
And the winner is..
#1
"Revved up like a douche, another runner in the night." - Manfred Mann
, Blinded By the Light (written by Bruce Springsteen)
[actual lyric: "Revved up like a deuce another runner in the night"]
N. Scott Catledge, PhD/STD
Professor Emeritus
history & languages
THL Colm Dubh
Herald Extraordinaire
Ensign Herald, Trimaris
Apprentice to Master Finn Normansson, Baron Seleone
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of ATEG automatic digest system
Sent: Sunday, February 21, 2010 12:00 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: ATEG Digest - 19 Feb 2010 to 20 Feb 2010 (#2010-17)
There are 5 messages totalling 2190 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. Understanding Plain English (5)
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Date: Sat, 20 Feb 2010 06:41:55 -0700
From: Webmail bdespain <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Understanding Plain English
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It seems like the common feature of the mondegreens mentioned is that they
involve a phantom individual -- someone who exists only in the mind of the
interpreter and never intended by the author. Is this a coincidence or is
this feature essential? Are there examples of other such misinterpretation=
s
that do not involve imaginary creatures?
Bruce
On Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 7:22 PM, STAHLKE, HERBERT F <[log in to unmask]>wrote=
:
> Lead on, O King Eternal
>
>
>
> Herb
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> *From:* Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:
> [log in to unmask]] *On Behalf Of *Craig Hancock
> *Sent:* Thursday, February 18, 2010 12:09 PM
>
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* Re: Understanding Plain English
>
>
>
> Herb,
> You have me puzzled and deeply curious What's the original for the
> kinky turtle?
> Craig
>
> STAHLKE, HERBERT F wrote:
>
> Dave,
>
>
>
> When I read your first message, my mental editing function was switched
> off, and I read =93humor is=94 as =93humorist.=94 I didn=92t even notice=
the error
> (mine) at first. It=92s an interesting case of a mondegreen, the mind ma=
king
> sense of something that otherwise doesn=92t. On ADS-L in the last couple=
of
> days the example =93disaster=92s own surgeon=94 came up as an aural under=
standing
> of spoken =93disaster zone surgeon.=94 My favorite mondegreen is the hym=
n title
> =93Lead on, O Kinky Turtle.=94 What makes =93humor is=94 > =93humorist=
=94 interesting
> is that it makes sense of something that is in fact an error, rather than
> the usual case of simply reanalyzing a well-formed string.
>
>
>
> For others on the list who may not have run into mondegreens, the term
> comes from a passage that I quote from the Wikipedia entry:
>
>
>
> The American writer Sylvia Wright<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?tit=
le=3DSylvia_Wright&action=3Dedit&redlink=3D1> coined
> the term <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neologism> mondegreen in her essay
> "The Death of Lady Mondegreen," which was published in *Harper's Magazine=
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harper%27s_Magazine>
> * in November 1954.[3]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondegreen#cite_note-=
Wright-2>In the essay, Wright described how, as a young girl, she misheard =
the final
> line of the first stanza from the 17th-century ballad<http://en.wikipedia=
.org/wiki/Ballad>"The
> Bonnie Earl O' Murray<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bonnie_Earl_O%27_M=
urray>."
> She wrote:
>
> When I was a child, my mother used to read aloud to me from Percy's *
> Reliques*<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliques_of_Ancient_English_Poetry=
>,
> and one of my favorite poems began, as I remember:
>
> Ye Highlands and ye Lowlands,
>
> Oh, where hae ye been?
>
> They hae slain the Earl O' Murray,
>
> *And Lady Mondegreen.*
>
> The actual fourth line is "And laid him on the green". As Wright explaine=
d
> the need for a new term, "The point about what I shall hereafter call
> mondegreens, since no one else has thought up a word for them, is that th=
ey
> are better than the original".
>
>
>
> I can=92t say that my misreading was better than the original.
>
>
>
> Herb
> ------------------------------
>
> *From:* Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [
> mailto:[log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>] *On Behalf Of
> *MARLOW, DAVID
> *Sent:* Thursday, February 18, 2010 9:56 AM
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* Re: Understanding Plain English
>
>
>
> Caught my own typo...
>
>
>
> humor is employs
>
>
>
> My apologies for not proofing better - particularly when submitting to a
> listserv of grammarians!
>
>
>
> D
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> *From:* Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [
> [log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of MARLOW, DAVID [
> [log in to unmask]]
> *Sent:* Thursday, February 18, 2010 9:47 AM
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* Re: Understanding Plain English
>
> Robert said:
>
> *<You are absolutely right that the joke is racist; however, the humor is
> based on an interesting aspect of grammar that Haj Ross called sloppy
> identity.>**
> *
> I=92d suggest the humor is employs sloppy identity, but is based on racis=
m &
> sexism=85
> If we changed the original joke to avoid racist & sexist comments, it
> wouldn=92t get repeated much =85
>
> *< Bob Smith calls his boss and says, 'Sir, I will not be coming to work
> today. I=92m unwell and experiencing a headache, stomach ache and have pa=
in in
> my legs. I will not be able to report to work today.=92 **
>
> The boss replies, 'You know something, Bob, I really need you today. When=
I
> feel sick like you do, I go to my wife and suggest we have breakfast at t=
he
> caf=E9 down the street. That makes everything better and I go to work. Yo=
u try
> that.'
>
> Two hours later Bob calls again. 'I took your advice and I feel great. I=
=92ll
> be at work soon. The caf=E9 has great food and your wife is a wonderful
> conversationalist.>*
>
>
> If we, as teachers and students of grammar, ignore the semantics behind o=
ur
> words & focus only on the syntax binding them together, we do our
> constituency a disservice and reinforce traditional and harmful social
> trends.
>
> Respectfully,
>
> Dave
>
> David W. Marlow, Ph.D.
>
> Assistant Professor of Linguistics and ESOL
> Vice President/President Elect - Carolina TESOL
> Founder: South Carolina Language & Life Project
>
> University of South Carolina =96 Upstate
> 800 University Way
> Spartanburg, SC 29303
> 864.503.5849
>
>
> ________________________________________
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<div>It seems like the common feature of the mondegreens mentioned is that =
they involve a phantom individual -- someone who exists only in the mind of=
the interpreter and never intended by the author.=A0 Is this a coincidence=
or is this feature essential?=A0 Are there examples of other such misinter=
pretations that do not involve imaginary creatures?=A0 </div>
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|
