The Word of The Week

A 'mondegreen' is a misunderstood or misinterpreted word or phrase resulting from a mishearing of the lyrics of a song.

American writer Sylvia Wright coined the term in 1954, writing about how as a girl she had misheard the lyric "...and laid him on the green" in a Scottish ballad as "...and Lady Mondegreen".

This word of the week comes with a story: a friend of mine (namely Emma Crane...) is notorious for misheard lyrics, here are a few of my favourites:

- 'He took me back to his delana (????)' instead of 'Havana'

- 'I'm farting carrots' instead of '14 carats'

- 'Throwing that turtle on my knee' instead of 'dirt all on my name'

- 'I got shoes, they're multiplying' instead of 'chills'

Here's a very funny video of Peter Kay talking about some of these misheard lyrics: