mondegreen

American  

[mon-di-green] / ˈmɒn dɪˌgrin /

noun

1. a word or phrase resulting from a mishearing of another word or phrase, especially in a song or poem.

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mondegreen British  

/ ˈmɒndɪˌɡriːn /

noun

1. a word or phrase that is misinterpreted as another word or phrase, usually with an amusing result

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Etymology

Origin of mondegreen

Coined by Sylvia Wright, U.S. writer, in 1954; from the line laid him on the green, interpreted as Lady Mondegreen, in a Scottish ballad

Example Sentences

The difficulty is captured in his recent novel, “Mondegreen,” about a middle-aged writer who suffers a breakdown when changing languages.

From Los Angeles Times

Purple Mountains even took their name from a mondegreen of the lyrics to America the Beautiful.

From The Guardian

Can’t you tell I’m just a nerd who loves a mondegreen?”

From Washington Post

Mondegreen, a misheard song lyric I can see clearly now Lorraine has gone Wrapped up like a douche, I ask what was she on?

From Washington Post

Tellingly, in something akin to what linguists call a mondegreen, Bach at several passages apparently misconstrued what the children — in this reconstruction of the scene — had said, and emended a scriptural verse’s legitimate Lutheran rendering to a similar-sounding but unattested wording.

From New York Times