Mondegreens –Everyone has made one.

Now you may not know what a mondegreen is, but I am pretty confident that not only have you heard at least one in your life, but that you have probably made one or two of your own along the way!
According to the “Hot word” blog, “A mondegreen is a misinterpretation of a word or phrase that shares homophony (sounds like) another word or phrase that has been heard.
Not to be confused with a malapropism, which is the unintentional improper use of a single word, mondegreens are often applied to a line in a poem or a lyric from a song – usually with amusing results.
Sylvia Wright, an American author, coined the term after a phrase she recalls mishearing as a young girl. According to Wright, the first stanza from the 17th century ballad “The Boony Earl O’Moray” goes a little something like this:
“Ye Highlands and ye Lowlands,
Oh, where have ye been?
They have slain the Earl O’Moray
And Lady Mondegreen.”
The correct phrasing of the fourth line is actually, “And laid him on the green.” As Wright points out, many times mondegreens can seem to be of superior quality to the actual words.
James Gleick, an American author and journalist, believes the mondegreen is a distinctly modern event. “Without improved communication and standardization of language which accompanies it, there would have been no way for this shared experience to have been recognized and discussed.”
The Blog then lists some Mondegreens from its readers. Here are some of them:
“’Scuse me while I kiss this guy “(‘Scuse me while I kiss the sky from “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix)
“Alex the seal” (Our lips are sealed from “Our Lips Are Sealed” by the Go-Go’s)
“Hold me closer Tony Danza” (Hold me closer tiny dancer from “Tiny Dancer” by Elton John)
(An example of a reverse mondegreen is Iron Butterfly’s 1968 hit “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” which was originally titled “In the Garden of Eden.”)
“Bingo Jed had a light on” instead of “Big ‘Ol Jet Airliner” from the 'The Steve Miller Band' song.
“There’s a bathroom on the right,” instead of “There’s a bad moon on the rise,” from Credence Clearwater Revival “Bad Moon Rising”
Another person added: “We sang “O, Susanna” in middle school chorus, which was the first time I realized that the line was not, “…with a Band-Aid on my knee.” As The Hot Word points out, my lyrics made more sense than “a banjo on my knee” — which I could not visualize at all.”
Rupert Holmes Pineapple, sorry, “Pina Colada Song” (Which is actually Called ‘Escape’) is another. Well that’s some other peoples! Here are a couple of mine now. My own most notable Mondegreens are “They call me Mad and yellow, instead of “mellow yellow” from Donavan’s “Mellow Yellow”.
Another was Savage Gardens “Animal Song” where instead of “When superstars and cannonballs are running through your head.” I heard “cannibals running through the jungle”
Well, they’re my mondegreens! What are some of yours that you feel like sharing now that you know you are not alone and that there is even a special name for this modern phenomenon?

Pardon My Xhosa / French.

Now I am sure you have all heard the idiomatic request to “Pardon my French”, when someone has used a swear word in polite circles. But have you ever wondered where the expression came from and why it was French and not say Spanish or Portuguese or any other language for that matter, that you were being asked to pardon?
Well I was reading somewhere (Hot Word Blog) that: ““Pardon my French,” or “excuse my French,” is an apology for the use of profanity; the expression dates from 1895. Pardon is derived from the old French pardoner meaning, “to grant, forgive.”
Well fairly elemental so far there, so now let’s look as to why French and not some other language. And the answer is probably both Geographical and Historical!
Yes, it is probably because, being closest to England and being at war with England for many, many centuries, all things French would have been looked down on as profane, by the English.
And as a complimentary “explanation suggests that during the 19th century, the English often used French words in conversation – a foreign language to most people living in England at the time. Realizing the listener may not have understood, the speaker would apologize by saying, “Pardon my French.”
The latter particularly is a very reasonable explanation I feel, based on my own personal experiences in totally different parts of the world.
Many years ago, when we thought we might be going as missionaries to a French speaking country in Africa, I tried to learn French for a while. Even bought a set of Second hand Lingaphone French language records and such. At one stage, I even worked with a French speaker from Mauritius, unfortunately he didn’t think very much of my early attempts, and when the French countries closed their doors to us metaphorical speaking initially, we looked (supposedly temporarily) at some English Speaking countries in the short term. That very briefly is how we ended up In the Then Republic of Transkei, now back as part of South Africa) working with the Xhosa people there, for nearly 12 years.
And although I tried hard to learn Xhosa, I succeeded only to the degree that I knew and could speak certain phrases as well as many Xhosa, but I never really understood the language enough to carry a full conversation in it.
None the less there were are certain words and phrases that we learnt and used so commonly, that even today, nearly 9 years out of there, I still occasionally have to say to someone , pardon my Xhosa! Not because I was swearing at them; just using a word they had no clue of the meaning let alone origin.
Which finally brings us to our point today. Whether in French, Xhosa, any of the thousands of other languages currently in the world, or even in modern idiom, what words or expressions are you currently using, that the people that you are speaking to have no clue, what you are saying and by rights you too should be saying, “Pardon my French or whatever”? Over to you for now.

Working Bees have no connection to Bees that are working.

Did you know that “Working Bees” have no connection to the concept of active Bees all working together? Although the saying , “As busy as a Bee,” does!
According to “The Hot Word” Blog for June 2, 2011, The Word Bee, (as in “Working Bees”, “Spelling Bees", etc.), is derived “from the Old English bēn meaning “a prayer, a favor.” By the late 18th century, bee had become commonly associated with the British dialect form, been or bean, referring to the joining of neighbors to work on a single activity to help a neighbor in need: sewing bee, quilting bee, etc . . . This derivation counters a long held belief that “bee” refers to the buzzing insect and the social nature of a beehive.”
So now you know, even if like me, you didn’t before! However, as interesting as it is to know where the concept came from, I feel it more important to see where it is currently going now from a personal aspect. Don’t You? Yes who are joining with now in a singular activity to help others in need? Right now plenty of people are banding together with strangers to help people recover from the floods earlier in the year, in cleaning up, replacing fences etc.
Of course there are many other opportunities for you to come together with other to help them on a specific occasion or occasions. I will shortly be joining a few others to help a single lady and her 2 girls move home; but enough of me, what about you? Who can you help now?
Great question I think! So today’s thought stretcher is, where and how can you personally but with others come together and help someone in need? Again over to you now.