mondegreen ?

Subject: mondegreen ?
From: GUEST,mr happy
Date: 22 Apr 02 - 09:53 AM

there's an excellent folk news page run by a mr red is this name a mondegreen? (Mr Ed?)

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: MMario
Date: 22 Apr 02 - 09:58 AM

"missed 'er 'ead"

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 22 Apr 02 - 10:07 AM

Wrong sex. Surely the whole point of a modegreen is that it's Miss Red

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: MMario
Date: 22 Apr 02 - 10:40 AM

no - mondegreens are like 'ghost riders in the sky' ...they are Mist Herd

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 22 Apr 02 - 10:43 AM

Im just a guy whose intentions are good
O Lord please don't let me be Miss Understood!

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Morticia
Date: 22 Apr 02 - 11:24 AM

My daughter used to have a school matron called Miss Dakin....lots of Airplane type jokes around that one.

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 22 Apr 02 - 02:18 PM

Mr Bates, Mrs Bates and their son Master... Whoops. Better not.

Whenever a HP unix system boots up it 'Starts tracing and logging' and I always remember miss-reading (Miss Reading?) that as 'Starting Tracy and Roger'.

But then again I need to get out more;-)

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 22 Apr 02 - 02:56 PM

My other half had a teacher when at school, who was of the lesbian faith [ allegedly ] called Miss Bumpus
Read it and weep....Giok

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 22 Apr 02 - 03:05 PM

Does anybody know the beginning of this one? Believed to originate in war time.
.................................send reinforcements
Misheard [nice girl] as,
We're going to the pictures, send three and fourpence.
Giok

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Mr Red
Date: 22 Apr 02 - 03:15 PM

Send re-inforcements we are going to advance
classic military game where you tell a soldier at one end of a line (and to tell the next man) the above and by the time it gets to 'tother end they are asking
Send three and fourpence we are going to a dance.
3/4d is about 17.43 pence in new money (or nearly one third of a Euro for mainlanders)
FWIW Miss Red faded about a year ago and the song should be "Laddie in Red"
Not dancing despite appearances but pictures yes, one of this Mr Red, go see :- Upton u 7 Folk Festival 3rd to 6th May 200

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Joe_F
Date: 22 Apr 02 - 07:06 PM

When I was little, I thought "Jingle Bells" mentioned a young lady named Miss Fortune, who proved her lot, whatever that might mean.

Lady Luck's maiden name, I dare say.

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Mr Happy
Date: 23 Apr 02 - 10:00 AM

I recently heard a song which may throw some light on further details of Lady Mondegreen's aristocratic connections.

I think it's called The Lighthouse and the chorus goes:

'I am ready for the storm, yes Sir Eddy, I am ready for the storm, yes Sir Eddy, I'm ready for the storm'

Sir Eddy Mondegreen, perhaps.

Mr Happy

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Mr Happy
Date: 23 Apr 02 - 10:04 AM

Mr Red

I think we're 1, 802 years too late to attend Upton FF 200!

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: CapriUni
Date: 23 Apr 02 - 02:23 PM

I'm missing something, I think.

(Not surprising, considering the subject matter).

What is: "I am ready for the storm, yes Sir Eddy" supposed to be?

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 23 Apr 02 - 02:53 PM

I just remembered my all time favourite and, so I'm told, genuine kids monegreen.

In the 'Hail Mary' - Blessed are thou, a monk swimming...

Still has me in fits of giggles.

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 23 Apr 02 - 05:30 PM

Happiness, Capri Uni

On the recording I have (by Tall Stories, aka Pat Ryan, Ken Howard and Malcolm Gibbons) it's called "Ready for the Storm", as in yes sir, ready for the storm. And credited to Dougie Maclean.

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 23 Apr 02 - 06:19 PM

I still think the original Earl of Murray mondegreen is the quintessential example

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Joe_F
Date: 23 Apr 02 - 07:08 PM

In my old copy of the _Folksinger's Wordbook_, in "The Old Orange Flute", the line

"Kick the Pope," "The Boyne Water" it freely would sound,

appears as

"Kick the Pope," and "Boil Water" it freely would sound.

A little-known song describing the Protestant way of making holy water (boil the hell out of it)?

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Mr Red
Date: 23 Apr 02 - 08:13 PM

Happiness
I blame word wrap
Now your nom de guerre? Would this be a reference to Ken Dodd's immortal song of "Happiness" ? (the greatest gift that I possess ) - not so much a modegreen as a single entendre I would say (Oh OK! 1.5 and thats my final offer).

"I thank the Lord that I've been blessed, with mor than my share of ............."

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: GUEST,mr happy
Date: 24 Apr 02 - 04:26 AM

Miss Tread

I'm all undone!You've broke my cover.

'I'm so unhappy, unhappy as can be I'm so unhappy, dearie, dearie me'

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: GUEST,mr happy
Date: 24 Apr 02 - 04:31 AM

i am ready for the storm, yes sir, ready

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: An Pluiméir Ceolmhar
Date: 25 Jun 02 - 08:38 AM

I figured out some time ago what a mondegreen is, but can someone tell me what is the etymology of the word?

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: greg stephens
Date: 25 Jun 02 - 08:44 AM

And laid him on the green

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Wolfgang
Date: 25 Jun 02 - 08:45 AM

"...laid him on the green" misheard as "...Lady Mondegreen".

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: GUEST,Nerd
Date: 25 Jun 02 - 03:26 PM

The full line comes from the ballad "The Bonny Earl O' Moray," which laments:

They have slain the Earl O' Moray And laid him on the green.

This was misheard as

The have slain the Earl O' Moray and Lady Mondegreen.

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 25 Jun 02 - 04:14 PM

Wait a minute - it's NOT "'Kick the Pope' and 'Boil Water'" it freely would sound? I was sure that Boil Water had something to do with the Catholics having so many children...

My favorite misheard line today: From the Traveling Wilbury's there is a line about My shoes are wearing out, walking down this same highway... which I heard as Well, she's a worry now, walking... (a song about a woman you can't get rid of?) -

My fave in French is Tous attablés les soirs d'hiver/lorsqu'un par un Mamie nous sert, which I heard as Tous accablés. The real line is Sitting at table, what I heard was Overburdened... so the people at the table in my visual all straightened up!

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Mr Red
Date: 25 Jun 02 - 04:26 PM

Thankyou for the plug Mr Happy
blickie is cresby.com
I am not a mondegreen, man de red only spoken here.

My addition to the sum of knowledge on mondegreens is :
"Sea Coal" (polite mental images please) is related to mine shafts.

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: An Pluiméir Ceolmhar
Date: 26 Jun 02 - 11:48 AM

Thanks for the explanations. Is it a term generally used among folkies or is it Mudcat-specific?

I remember an excellent advertisement for audio tapes a few years ago built around the idea of mondegreens caused by listening to music on cheaper brands of tape.

The punch line was the magnificent "My ears are alight" (the Israelite). Anyone remember it?

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Genie
Date: 26 Jun 02 - 12:03 PM

An Pluimeir, There's a current ad campaign --for cell phones, I think -- that's based on mondegreen-type misunderstandings, too. Someone orders one thing and a totally different (ridiculous) thing gets delivered.

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: MikeofNorthumbria
Date: 27 Jun 02 - 05:59 AM

Wasn't Lady Mondegreen's execution arranged by Sister Mattick, the well-organised nun?

Wassail!

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: greg stephens
Date: 27 Jun 02 - 06:10 AM

A French witticism is based on the fact that Le Concerto en sol mineur (the concerto in Gminor) can be misheard as the French for "the c**t is used early in mining country".

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 27 Jun 02 - 06:36 AM

Thread Drift: following on from the comments on Ads with misheard requests, I like the add wher a man in a cafe is served with a small 'gremlin'; when he asked for a 'Sprite'.

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Susan A-R
Date: 27 Jun 02 - 10:43 PM

Paint 'em all red

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Declan
Date: 28 Jun 02 - 12:06 PM

There's a story that a man from London who used to go to the Irish traditional sessions there once asked some of the musicians after one of the sessions why they hadn't finished off with the usual song - the one about shoving Connie around the field.

He meant the Irish national anthem which finishes up "Seo libh canaig Amhran na bhFhiann"

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Chris Amos
Date: 28 Jun 02 - 01:35 PM

My friend tells me that he has hung a hammer cup under the trees in his garden for the summer, I don't like to ask.

CA

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Noreen
Date: 01 Jul 02 - 06:50 PM

APC, the term mondegreen is used outside mudcat circles also- if you look up mondegreen on Google, you'll find at least one website which specialises in them. You'll be sorry you asked...!

N

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 01 Jul 02 - 07:15 PM

APC

Yes I remember the ad on TV ("Me ears are alight") and it was magnificent because of the reggae soundtrack that delivered the punchline... Desmond Dekker EYHO

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: michaelr
Date: 01 Jul 02 - 07:34 PM

Vacationing in the Greek isles, I found romance with a beautiful French girl. When we parted, she looked into my eyes and said:

"May you always `ave `appiness!"

I sure hope I will!
Michael

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Genie
Date: 27 Aug 02 - 11:45 AM

The first lyrics posted for Look To The Rainbowin this thead http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=29707&messages=9   are from another website and contain several mondegreens:

Someone heard "whip-poor-wills singing" as "whimper we're singing," so the line became, "...with whimper we're singing beyond the next hill."

Then, "I bundled my heart" morphed into "I pondered my heart,"
And "...I scanned all the skies," became "...I scandeled* the sky."

I just love the powerful, joyous rainbow image of folks on the other side of the hill singing with whimper!  And just what would you have to do to "scandal" the sky--run around nekkid (whilst singing with whimper)?

Genie

*Shouldn't that be spelled "scandaled" or "scandalled?"  Is there such a verb, anyway?

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 27 Aug 02 - 12:08 PM

A fellow at one folk club kept asking me to sing "The song about sailing around the coast of Ireland". He insisted that he'd heard me sing it before. One evening I sang "The Shoals of Herring". "That's it", he said, "The Shores of Erin".

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: GUEST,Pat Darlington
Date: 28 Aug 02 - 10:11 AM

My father tels me for years at school he thought a couple of hymns a bit wierd. In "We plough the fields and scatter" he heard "[he sends] the warmth to swell the grain" as "the warmth to swell the drain" and "Gladly my cross I'd bear" he thought was about a teddy bear with cross-eyes.

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: masato sakurai
Date: 28 Aug 02 - 11:08 AM

Bruce Jeffrey Halitcher Taub composed "Lady Mondegreen's Dances," "Lady Mondegreen Sings the Blues," and "Lady Mondegreen Bangs the Can!" (Scores are HERE. She is not dead.

~Masato

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: harper
Date: 28 Aug 02 - 09:04 PM

And I suppose you heard about the little boy who wanted to say something "religious" for the funeral of his goldfish, whom he was about to flush. He said "Glory be to the Father and to the Son and down the hole he goes."

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Genie
Date: 29 Aug 02 - 01:16 AM

Not really a mondegreen, harper -- but still funny!

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: GUEST,Amos
Date: 02 Oct 02 - 12:07 PM

I just heard Iris de Mente singing "Let the Mystery Be" for the first time. The recurring tag line is, "I think I'll just let the mystery be." (concerning the Big Questions like "Where do we go when we die?", and so on...)

But listening at low volume in my office, I was certain the first time through she was saying, "I think I'll just let them screw with me..."

Not a bad attitudem, wehn ya cvome to think of it.

A

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Schantieman
Date: 02 Oct 02 - 12:19 PM

Apparently President de Gaulle was speaking (in fractured English) at a dinner wher he expressed the wish that those present should " 'ave 'appiness all your life". I daresay those present agreed.

S

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: An Pluiméir Ceolmhar
Date: 09 Jan 03 - 06:32 AM

Belated thanks to Noreen for answering my supplementary question about the putative Mudcat-specificity of "Mondegreen". I took your advice and GOT BACK TO WORK, and lost sight of this thread. Now I'm Mudcatting again as a way of (not) coping with post-holiday stress disorder.

But I still have my doubts. Surely lady Mondegreen was a member of the Scottish branch of that well-known Italian musical family, the Monteverdis?

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jan 03 - 09:58 AM

Visit here and here for some nice discussion of mondegreens.

Dave the Gnome or others, I have a question. I am not Catholic, haven't spent any time to speak of in church, so the chuckle over "a monk swimming" goes totally over my head. What in fact is the origin of this "kids monegreen." DtG wrote "In the 'Hail Mary' - Blessed are thou, a monk swimming... " and this same one is reflected in the title of a memoir by Malachy McCourt.

SRS

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Jan 03 - 10:25 AM

Hail Mary full of grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou, amongst women...

Subject: RE: mondegreen ?
From: Noreen
Date: 09 Jan 03 - 10:32 AM

Blessed art thou amongst women
Is a phrase from the Hail Mary, SRS- you can have it all if you wish (though the Angelus responses are getting rusty for lack of usage).