Mondegreens for You for Christmas!

Image via Wikipedia

We all know from experience (good or bad)
that there can be no true Christmas without the
traditional Christmas carols being trown into
the deal as part of the seasonal package.

Image via Wikipedia

But, after reading today's post, you'll smile
next time you hear them...

Oh yeeees, you will!

You will, because you'll know
of the curse of the Mondegreens...

You will, because Susan Dunn, our Guest Writer
for today's post, takes us down Memory Lane
and shows us some classic mondegreens
that have plagued (with comic effects) the
Christmas carols' world.

Enjoy...

Loup Dargent

Figurines from Rudolph The Red-nosed Reindeer

Image by prettywar-stl via Flickr

________________

Mondegreens
for You for
Christmas!

Susan Dunn, MA,
The EQ Coach

Yes, I have mondegreens for you! Aren't you thrilled?

If you're not sure, you aren't alone. It's a word that
sounds vaguely familiar, and might be something you'd like
to get. I mean we have lots of "greens" at Christmas -
trees, wreaths, apparel, and "monde," well doesn't that
mean "world"?

But ... huh?

When Christmas carols burst upon the scene with their
unfamiliar or vaguely familiar and sometimes archaic lyrics
(i.e., "to certain poor shepherds"), hark! (Listen!), we
have the makings of a wassail (beverage) bowl of confusion,
or, more precisely, a wassail bowl of mondegreens.

"Mondegreen" means a mishearing of a statement or song
lyric. Kinda like the old game of "Gossip" where you
whisper something to the first person as fast as you can,
they whisper it to the person next to them, and after 9
people, the last person recites what they heard and you
laugh!

The term was allegedly coined by Sylvia Wright, a
columnist, who wrote of her dismay in discovering that she
had misheard the lyrics to the Scottish folk ballad, "The
Bonny Early of Murray."

It goes "They ha'e slain the Earl of Murray, And they laid
him on the Green," while she had always heard "They ha'e
slain the Earl of Murray, and Lady Mondegreen."

Oh my!

Examples abound, especially where children are involved
because of their limited vocabulary for understanding, and
their unlimited capacity for passing on misinformation. I
think of my son, for instance, whose favorite Christmas
song was, in his words, "Frosty the No Man."

Snopes.com has collected these faux pas from Internet
postings, books, and reader e-mails. Perhaps you have your
own collection. You can see a list of some of them here.

Image via Wikipedia

You’ll also enjoy reading “Deck the Halls with Buddy Holly
and Other Misheard Christmas Carol Lyrics,” by Gavin
Edwards, which contains quite a few more, with great
illustrations.

Cover of Deck the Halls

Now, technically, a mondegreen is a true misunderstanding,
not one of those parody songs. Here are a couple of
examples:

"Olive, the other reindeer"
("All of the other reindeer" -- "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed
Reindeer")

"Round John Virgin"
("Round yon virgin" -- "Silent Night")

"Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, you'll go drown in
Listerine."
("You'll go down in history." - "Rudolph")

We've compiled a list on Club Vivo Per Lei / I Live for
Music for your enjoyment, so, O Come Hoggy Faithful
(another example), drop by and submit yours and enjoy
those of others.

If your family's like mine, you have "stories" about these
you tell every year, particularly from back when the kid
were young.

P.S. Can't you imagine the little darling who thought it
was "Making a list, chicken and rice”?

__________________

About the Author

Susan Dunn, MA, The EQ Coach,
mailto: sdunn@susandunn.cc .
Individual coaching, business programs,
Internet courses, and ebooks around emotional
intelligence for your personal and professional
enhancement.

EQ Alive! #1 rated EQ coach certification
program, simple, fast, affordable, no-residency
program, training worldwide.

For free EQ ezine, or Club Vivo Per
Lei/I Live for Music, email Susan.

___________________

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