The Hogeye thread got me thinking about misheard and misspoken language: Also listed in Hugill's book are versions of Hogeye man being Hawkeye man and Ox-eye man. The letters G and K are made in the same place: one "voiced" and the other "plosive".

The biblical saw "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into the kingdom of heaven" is actually not the original wording. As I understand it (please correct me if I'm wrong) the word camel is a misunderstanding of the Hebrew word for rope, which when spoken sounds like the word "camel". But even with the wrong word, the saying makes sense, and is accepted. Of course, the rope is being compared to a thread. Ahhhhh, yes. The rope/thread analagy makes a lot more sense, doesn't it?

Then there is the Shanty "Row, Bullies Row." I read that the person who collected songs and wrote them down misunderstood the words Roll Bullies Roll. The ship pitches and rolls, so roll makes more sense to me. I choose to sing "roll" myself, being stubborn.

I'd love to hear your examples of such misunderstood or misspoken lyrics. (I love etemology, don't know why).

Margarita