A mondegreen is a mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase as a result of near-homophony, in a way that gives it a new meaning.
Mondegreens are most often created by a person listening to a poem or a song;
the listener, being unable to clearly hear a lyric, substitutes words that sound similar, and make some kind of sense.[1][2]
American writer Sylvia Wright coined the term in her essay "The Death of Lady Mondegreen",
published in Harper's Magazine in November 1954.
The term was inspired by "...and Lady Mondegreen", a misinterpretation of the line
"...and laid him on the green" from the Scottish ballad "The Bonnie Earl O' Moray".[3]
An unintentionally incorrect use of similar-sounding words or phrases in speaking is a malapropism.
If there is a connection in meaning, it can be called an eggcorn.
If a person stubbornly sticks to a mispronunciation after being corrected,
that person has committed a mumpsimus.[12]
