Egg Corns
An egg corn is defined as a word or phrase that results from a mishearing or misinterpretation of another. The original word or phrase has been substituted for one that sounds very similar or identical. The first known example, from which we derive the term, was a mid 19th century misinterpretation of the word acorn.
“A word or phrase that results from a mishearing or misinterpretation of another, an element of the original being substituted for one that sounds very similar or identical (e.g. tow the line instead of toe the line ).”
In the Jimi Hendrix song, Purple Haze, ‘Scuse me while I kiss this guy are not the correct words. ‘Scuse me while I kiss the sky are.
Egg corns and mondegreens run in the same circle. In the Beatles song, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, a mondegreen a lot of people assume is true can be found. Some assume that a girl with colitis walks by. It was actually a girl with kaleidoscope eyes who walks by.
When I was a little girl in first grade, we began to learn The Pledge of Allegiance by heart. My friend Elizabeth caused me to giggle when she said out loud, “I led the pigeons to the flag” while the rest f us were correct when we said the right words: I pledge allegiance to the flag.
“The city wasn’t built on sausage rolls... the city was built on rock ‘n roll.”
In my early twenties, a popular song was We Built This City by Starship. The city wasn’t built on sausage rolls but I had a friend who swears it was even though everyone else knew the city was built on Rock ‘n Roll. My friend is a big boy and he loves to eat!
To wrap it all up, one of the most misunderstood series of words was sang by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band. Their interpretation of Bruce Springsteen’s Blinded by the Light is really weird. For the longest time I thought Manfred and his pals were singing Blinded by the light, wrapped up like a douche, another boner in the night. It wasn’t until several years later that I discovered they were singing Blinded by the light, revved up like a duce, another runner in the night. The words weren’t about the remnants of lovemaking, it was about a car race.
The mind is a funny thing. The ear is even funnier.
