LADY MONDEGREEN

One of the newest words added to the dictionary is mondegreen. It means a confusion of words. A mix up. A misunderstanding.

It seems there was an Old Scottish ballad that had the line "they laid him on the green," but was misunderstood to the point of "the Lady Mondegreen". Thus, the terminology.

Examples from "Silent Night" include Round John Virgin instead of "'round yon virgin". Another from Credence Clearwater Revival "there's a bad moon on the rise," mondegreened into "there's a bathroom on the right".

I swore a lyric from a song spouted a real obscenity one time recently. I can't reveal what I thought it clearly said, but I was way off, when our son straightened me out with "show me the money". It doesn't always have to be close to be a mondegreeen.

There are thousands more, so be on the look out for them. And, now you know what to call 'em.