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 misinterpretations 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 “humor is” as “humorist.” I didn’t even notice the error > (mine) at first. It’s an interesting case of a mondegreen, the mind making > sense of something that otherwise doesn’t. On ADS-L in the last couple of > days the example “disaster’s own surgeon” came up as an aural understanding > of spoken “disaster zone surgeon.” My favorite mondegreen is the hymn title > “Lead on, O Kinky Turtle.” What makes “humor is” > “humorist” 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?title=Sylvia_Wright&action=edit&redlink=1> 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_Murray>." > 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 explained > 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 they > are better than the original". > > > > I can’t 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’d suggest the humor is employs sloppy identity, but is based on racism & > sexism… > If we changed the original joke to avoid racist & sexist comments, it > wouldn’t get repeated much … > > *< Bob Smith calls his boss and says, 'Sir, I will not be coming to work > today. I’m unwell and experiencing a headache, stomach ache and have pain in > my legs. I will not be able to report to work today.’ ** > > 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 the > café down the street. That makes everything better and I go to work. You try > that.' > > Two hours later Bob calls again. 'I took your advice and I feel great. I’ll > be at work soon. The café has great food and your wife is a wonderful > conversationalist.>* > > > If we, as teachers and students of grammar, ignore the semantics behind our > 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 – Upstate > 800 University Way > Spartanburg, SC 29303 > 864.503.5849 > > > ________________________________________ > From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar To join or leave this > LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave > the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web > interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select > "Join or leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/