Date: Thu, 10 Oct 1996 17:33:47 -0600

From: Kat Rose Kat.Rose[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]SPOT.COLORADO.EDU

Subject: Mary, full of grapes



Ann Scott asked about expressions that result from mishearing. The

Copyeditors List had quite a thread going on this topic a few months ago.



These mishearings are called *mondegreens*:

"A _mondegreen_ is a concept that takes shape in someone's mind as

spoken (or sung) words run together without being understood. I believe it

comes from a delightful and literate essay--title, author, and publication

forgotten, alas, ...--that described a number of instances, including the

elision of lines from a ballad "They have killed the Earl of Murray and

laid him on the green" to "... and Lady Mondegreen." (Hilary Powers,

CopyEditors-L, August 1996)



I only kept a few snippets, but these include two sources:

--Jon Carrol's "Near-Life Experiences," has a whole section on

Mondegreens: Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 1993. ISBN 0-8118-0307-4

--William Safire's _On Language_, pages 166-72 and 252

--Web pages on mondegreens: Most of them deal with the lyrics of rock

songs. http://clever.net/quinion/words/monde.htm includes links to

other mondegreen pages.



Two of the examples given were "Have an iced A" and a song based on

mondegreens, Mairzie Dotes:

"Oh, mairzie dotes and dosey dotes, en liddle amsie divey. A kiddley

divey, too; wooden you...Oh, Cowzie tweet and sowsie tweet and liddel

sharksie doisters. A kiddley doisters, too; wooden you?"



If you have trouble finding sources, Ann, let me know, and I'll ask if

someone else saved more than I did. (There was enough on the topic that it

might even have been saved as a FAQ.)



[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE] -- ---

Kat Rose Kat.Rose[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]spot.Colorado.edu

My words, my rights, my responsibility