Editing Mondegreen (section)

== Examples ==
===In songs===
<!-- This section is for NOTABLE AND SOURCED examples that have some SPECIFIC SIGNIFICANCE to the genre. It  is *not* an exhaustive listing of everyone's favorite misheard lyrics! -->
The national anthem of the United States is highly susceptible to the creation of mondegreens, two in the first line. [[Francis Scott Key]]'s "[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]" begins with the line "O say can you see, by the dawn's early light".<ref>Francis Scott Key, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20130126153519/http://www.thenationalanthemproject.org/lyrics.html ''The Star Spangled Banner'']}} (lyrics), 1814, MENC: The National Association for Music Education [[National Anthem Project]] (archived from {{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20120529014555/http://www.thenationalanthemproject.org/lyrics.html the original]}} {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20130126153519/http://www.thenationalanthemproject.org/lyrics.html Archived]}} 26 January 2013, at the [[Wayback Machine]]. on 26 January 2013).</ref> This has been misinterpreted (both accidentally and deliberately) as "José, can you see", another example of the [[Hobson-Jobson]] effect, countless times.<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTk3rBRTueE |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/ZTk3rBRTueE |archive-date=11 December 2021 |url-status=live |title=Jose Can You See – Angels In the Outfield |via=YouTube |date=30 June 2011 }}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.english.illinois.edu/-people-/faculty/debaron/essays/anthem.html |title=Jose can you see? The controversy over the Spanish translation of the Star-Spangled Banner |last=Baron |first=Dennis |access-date=22 December 2016 |archive-date=17 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917191521/http://www.english.illinois.edu/-people-/faculty/debaron/essays/anthem.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> The second half of the line has been misheard as well, as "by the donzerly light",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amiright.com/misheard/song/starspangledbanner.shtml |title=Misheard Lyrics -> Song -> S -> Star Spangled Banner |access-date=9 January 2017 |archive-date=2 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161102073856/http://www.amiright.com/misheard/song/starspangledbanner.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref> or other variants. This has led to many people believing that "donzerly" is an actual word.<ref>{{cite web |title=Misheard lyrics #3 Teaching Resources |url=https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/misheard-lyrics-3-6402560 |access-date=20 February 2020 |archive-date=20 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220150726/https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/misheard-lyrics-3-6402560 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Religious songs, learned by ear (and often by children), are another common source of mondegreens. The most-cited example is "Gladly, the cross-eyed bear"<ref name="Wright">{{cite magazine |author=Sylvia Wright |year=1954 |title=The Death of Lady Mondegreen |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_harpers-magazine_1954-11_209_1254/page/48 |magazine=Harper's Magazine |pages=48–51 |volume=209 |issue=1254}} Drawings by [[Bernarda Bryson]]. Reprinted in: {{cite book |author=Sylvia Wright |url=https://archive.org/details/getawayfrommewit00wrig/page/105 |title=Get Away From Me With Those Christmas Gifts |publisher=McGraw Hill |year=1957}} Contains the essays "The Death of Lady Mondegreen" and "The Quest of Lady Mondegreen".</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=[[The New York Times]]|author=William Saffire|title=On Language; Return of the Mondegreens |date=23 January 1994 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/23/magazine/on-language-return-of-the-mondegreens.html |access-date=22 March 2020 |archive-date=22 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322180302/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/23/magazine/on-language-return-of-the-mondegreens.html |url-status=live}}</ref> (from the line in the hymn "Keep Thou My Way" by [[Fanny Crosby]] and Theodore E. Perkins: "Kept by Thy tender care, gladly the cross I'll bear").<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/k/e/e/keepthou.htm
 |title=Keep Thou My Way
 |author=Frances Crosby
 |work=The Cyber Hymnal
 |access-date=6 September 2006
 |author-link=Frances Crosby
 |archive-date=14 May 2012
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120514091858/http://www.hymntime.com/tch//htm/k/e/e/keepthou.htm
 |url-status=dead
 }}</ref> [[Jon Carroll]] and many others quote it as "Gladly the cross ''I'd'' bear";<ref name="Carroll" /> note that the  confusion may be heightened by the unusual [[Object–subject–verb|object-subject-verb (OSV)]] word order of the phrase. The song "[[I Was on a Boat That Day]]" by [[Old Dominion (band)|Old Dominion]] features a reference to this mondegreen.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Old Dominion — I Was On A Boat That Day Lyrics {{!}} Genius Lyrics |url=https://genius.com/Old-dominion-i-was-on-a-boat-that-day-lyrics |access-date=16 August 2022 |website=genius.com |language=en |archive-date=16 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816023803/https://genius.com/Old-dominion-i-was-on-a-boat-that-day-lyrics |url-status=live }}</ref>
 
Mondegreens expanded as a phenomenon with radio, and, especially, the growth of rock and roll<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics|date=February 2010|volume=43|issue=1|pages=55–56|author=Don Hauptman|title=It's Not Easy Being Mondegreen}}</ref> (and even more so with rap<ref>{{cite news|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Lady Mondegreen and the Miracle of Misheard Song Lyrics|author=Willy Staley|date=13 July 2012|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/magazine/lady-mondegreen-and-the-miracle-of-misheard-song-lyrics.html|access-date=22 March 2020|archive-date=18 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218234541/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/magazine/lady-mondegreen-and-the-miracle-of-misheard-song-lyrics.html|url-status=live}}</ref>). Among the most-reported examples are:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://flatfieldrecords.com/whither-the-mondegreen-the-vanishing-pleasures-of-misheard-lyrics/|title=Whither the Mondegreen? The Vanishing Pleasures of Misheard Lyrics|access-date=20 February 2020|archive-date=20 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220154546/https://flatfieldrecords.com/whither-the-mondegreen-the-vanishing-pleasures-of-misheard-lyrics/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Carroll" />

#"There's a bathroom on the right" (the line at the end of each verse of "[[Bad Moon Rising (song)|Bad Moon Rising]]" by [[Creedence Clearwater Revival]]: "There's a bad moon on the rise").<ref name="Konnikova" /><ref>{{cite book|title=The Grammar of Rock: Art and Artlessness in 20th Century Pop Lyrics|author=Alexander Theroux|publisher=Fatntagraphics Books|year=2013|pages=45–46}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Gavin Edwards|title=Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy|year=1995|publisher=Simon and Schuster|page=92}}</ref>
#"’Scuse me while I kiss this guy" (from a lyric in the song "Purple Haze" by [[The Jimi Hendrix Experience]]: ("’Scuse me while I kiss the sky").<ref name="Konnikova" /><ref>{{cite book|author=Gavin Edwards|title=Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy|year=1995|publisher=Simon and Schuster|page=12}}</ref>
#"The girl with [[colitis]] goes by" (from a lyric in the [[The Beatles|Beatles]] song "[[Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds]]":  "The girl with kaleidoscope eyes")<ref>{{Cite web|last=Martin|first=Gary|title='The girl with colitis goes by' – the meaning and origin of this phrase|url=https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/361050.html|access-date=5 February 2021|website=Phrasefinder|language=en|archive-date=27 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127202413/https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/361050.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Both Creedence's [[John Fogerty]] and Hendrix eventually acknowledged these mishearings by deliberately singing the "mondegreen" versions of their songs in concert.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimclash/2023/08/27/ccrs-john-fogerty-theres-the-bathroom-on-the-right-not-really/?sh=1d2ef690d438|work=Forbes|author=Jim Clash|title=CCR's John Fogerty: 'There's The Bathroom On The Right' (Not Really)|access-date=3 November 2023|archive-date=3 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103153839/https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimclash/2023/08/27/ccrs-john-fogerty-theres-the-bathroom-on-the-right-not-really/?sh=1d2ef690d438|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
| last1=Shapiro
| first1=Harry
| author-link1=Harry Shapiro (author)
| last2=Glebbeek
| first2=Cesar
| title=Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy
| location=New York City
| publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]]
| year=1990
| page=148
| isbn=0-312-05861-6
| url=https://archive.org/details/jimihendrixelec000shap}}</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/apr/26/leadersandreply.mainsection2 Letters], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 26 April 2007.</ref>

"[[Blinded by the Light#Lyrics|Blinded by the Light]]", a cover of a [[Bruce Springsteen]] song by [[Manfred Mann's Earth Band]], contains what has been called "probably the most misheard lyric of all time".<ref name="blinded">{{Cite web |url=http://blogcritics.org/q-blinded-by-the-light-revved/ |title=Q: "Blinded By the Light, Revved Up Like a…" What? |access-date=20 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802103921/http://blogcritics.org/q-blinded-by-the-light-revved/ |archive-date=2 August 2016 |url-status=dead }}, Blogcritics Music</ref> The phrase "revved up like a deuce", altered from Springsteen's original "cut loose like a deuce", both lyrics referring to the [[hot rod]]ders slang ''deuce'' (short for [[1932 Ford#Deuce coupe|deuce coupé]]) for a 1932 Ford coupé, is frequently misheard as "wrapped up like a [[douche]]".<ref name="blinded"/><ref>The comedy show ''The Vacant Lot'' built an entire skit, called "Blinded by the Light" around four friends arguing about the lyrics. One version can be seen here: {{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9_3nQFNy-w |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/U9_3nQFNy-w |archive-date=11 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=The Vacant Lot – Blinded By The Light|via=YouTube|year=1993
|access-date=25 January 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Springsteen himself has joked about the phenomenon, claiming that it was not until Manfred Mann rewrote the song to be about a "feminine hygiene product" that the song became popular.<ref>{{Cite episode |title=Bruce Springsteen |series=[[VH1 Storytellers]] |network=[[VH1]] |airdate=23 April 2005 |number=62 }}</ref>{{efn|See this video of the mondegreen phenomenon in popular music.{{cite web|title=Top 10 Misheard Lyrics|via=YouTube |date=20 February 2013 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZhxLjDLu6Y |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/VZhxLjDLu6Y |archive-date=11 December 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=18 March 2014}}{{cbignore}}}}

Another commonly cited example of a song susceptible to mondegreens is [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]]'s "[[Smells Like Teen Spirit]]", with the line "here we are now, entertain us" variously being misinterpreted as "here we are now, ''in containers''",<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/8015543/REM-song-is-most-misheard.html|title=REM song is most misheard|journal=Daily Telegraph|date=21 September 2010|access-date=8 March 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235|archive-date=20 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220130233/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/8015543/REM-song-is-most-misheard.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/misheard-song-lyrics-6787|title=The Top 40 Misheard Song Lyrics|date=16 June 2016|website=NME |language=en-GB|access-date=8 March 2020}}</ref> and "here we are now, ''hot potatoes''",<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kimpton|first=Peter|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2014/sep/23/misheard-lyrics-under-threat-i-stir-the-cocoa|title=I stir the cocoa: is the joy of misheard lyrics under threat? {{!}} Peter Kimpton|date=23 September 2014|work=The Guardian|access-date=8 March 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> among other renditions.

In the 2014 song "[[Blank Space]]" by [[Taylor Swift]], listeners widely misheard the line "got a long list of ex-lovers" as "all the lonely [[Starbucks]] lovers".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/article/2015/05/25/taylor-swift-starbucks-lovers-mom/ |title=Even Taylor Swift's mom thought it was 'Starbucks lovers' |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |access-date=7 August 2023 |archive-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027131809/https://ew.com/article/2015/05/25/taylor-swift-starbucks-lovers-mom/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Rap and hip hop lyrics may be particularly susceptible to being misheard because they do not necessarily follow standard pronunciations. The delivery of rap lyrics relies heavily upon an often regional pronunciation<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/speak/words/sezwho/hiphop/reprint/|access-date=8 August 2024|title=Hip Hop Nation|author=H. Samy Alim|publisher=[[PBS]] }}</ref> or non-traditional accenting (see [[African-American Vernacular English]]) of words and their [[phonemes]] to adhere to the artist's stylizations and the lyrics' written structure. This issue is exemplified in controversies over alleged transcription errors in [[Yale University Press]]'s 2010 ''Anthology of Rap''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2275145/|title=Stakes Is High|work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |year=2010|author=Paul Devlin|access-date=9 December 2010|archive-date=17 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101217220616/http://www.slate.com/id/2275145|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Standardized and recorded mondegreens===
Sometimes, the modified version of a lyric becomes standard, as is the case with "[[The Twelve Days of Christmas (song)|The Twelve Days of Christmas]]". The original has "four colly birds"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Notes_On_Carols/twelve_days_of_christmas.htm |title=A Christmas Carol Treasury |website=The Hymns and Carols Of Christmas |access-date=5 December 2011 |archive-date=8 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108145033/http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Notes_On_Carols/twelve_days_of_christmas.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> (''colly'' means ''black''; compare ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'': "Brief as the lightning in the collied night"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/dream/T.1.1.html#145|title=Shakespeare Navigators|access-date=7 May 2015|archive-date=11 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150511221014/http://shakespeare-navigators.com/dream/T.1.1.html#145|url-status=dead}}</ref>); by the turn of the twentieth century, these had been replaced by ''calling'' birds,<ref>{{cite web|title=Twelve Days of Christmas|url=http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Notes_On_Carols/twelve_days_of_christmas.htm|access-date=10 November 2013|archive-date=30 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131130013920/http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Notes_On_Carols/twelve_days_of_christmas.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> which is the lyric used in the now-standard 1909 [[Frederic Austin]] version.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Notes_On_Carols/twelve_days_of_christmas.htm|title=A Christmas Carol Treasury|website=The Hymns and Carols Of Christmas|access-date=5 December 2011|archive-date=8 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108145033/http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Notes_On_Carols/twelve_days_of_christmas.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Another example is found in [[ELO]]'s song "[[Don't Bring Me Down (song)|Don't Bring Me Down]]". The original recorded lyric was "don't bring me down, Gruss!", but fans misheard it as "don't bring me down, Bruce!". Eventually, ELO began playing the song with the mondegreen lyric.<ref name="ultimate">{{cite web |first=Nick |last=DeRiso |title=Why Did Jeff Lynne Add 'Bruce' to ELO's 'Don't Bring Me Down'? |website=Ultimate Classic Rock |date=6 June 2019 |access-date=6 June 2019 |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/electric-light-orchestra-dont-bring-me-down-bruce/ |archive-date=7 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607082122/https://ultimateclassicrock.com/electric-light-orchestra-dont-bring-me-down-bruce/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The song "[[Sea Lion Woman]]", recorded in 1939 by Christine and Katherine Shipp, was performed by [[Nina Simone]] under the title "[[See Line Woman]]". According to the liner notes from the compilation ''A Treasury of Library of Congress Field Recordings'', the correct title of this playground song might also be "See [the] Lyin' Woman" or "C-Line Woman".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/Treasury-Library-Congress-Field-Recordings/dp/B0010W0MW8|title=A Treasury of Library of Congress Field Recordings|website=Amazon|access-date=14 May 2009|archive-date=16 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016012516/http://www.amazon.com/Treasury-Library-Congress-Field-Recordings/dp/B0010W0MW8|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Jack Lawrence (songwriter)|Jack Lawrence]]'s misinterpretation of the French phrase "pauvre Jean" ("poor John") as the identically pronounced "pauvres gens" ("poor people") led to the translation of ''La Goualante du pauvre Jean'' ("The Ballad of Poor John") as "[[The Poor People of Paris]]", a hit song in 1956.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jacklawrencesongwriter.com/songs/poor_people_of_paris.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927205843/http://www.jacklawrencesongwriter.com/songs/poor_people_of_paris.html|url-status=dead|title=Jack Lawrence, Songwriter: Poor People Of Paris<!-- Bot generated title -->|archive-date=27 September 2013}}</ref>

===In literature===
<!-- This section is for NOTABLE AND SOURCED examples that have some SPECIFIC SIGNIFICANCE to the genre. Because there are many, many examples of mondegreens occurring in the plot of a book, this list covers *only* mondegreens in titles  -->
''[[A Monk Swimming]]'' by author [[Malachy McCourt]] is so titled because of a childhood mishearing of a phrase from the Catholic rosary prayer, Hail Mary. "Amongst women" became "a monk swimmin{{'"}}.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/05/31/daily/mccourt-book-review.html |work=The New York Times |title='A Monk Swimming': A Tragedian's Brother Finds More Comedy in Life |access-date=17 February 2017 |archive-date=8 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708210730/http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/05/31/daily/mccourt-book-review.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The title and plot of the short science fiction story "Come You Nigh: Kay Shuns" ("Com-mu-ni-ca-tions") by Lawrence A. Perkins, in ''[[Analog Science Fiction and Fact]]'' magazine (April 1970), deals with [[secure communication|securing]] interplanetary radio communications by encoding them with mondegreens.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Perkins |first=Lawrence A. |date=1970 |title=Come You Nigh: Kay Shuns |magazine=Analog/Astounding Science Fiction |pages=11–120}}</ref>

''Olive, the Other Reindeer'' is a 1997 children's book by [[Vivian Walsh (author)|Vivian Walsh]], which borrows its title from a mondegreen of the line "all of the other reindeer" in the song "[[Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (song)|Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer]]". The book was adapted into an [[Olive, the Other Reindeer|animated Christmas special]] in 1999.

The travel guide book series [[Lonely Planet]] is named after the misheard phrase "lovely planet" sung by [[Joe Cocker]] in [[Matthew Moore]]'s song "Space Captain".<ref name="Wheeler2">{{cite book |title=Once while travelling: the Lonely Planet story |last1=Wheeler |first1=Tony |last2=Wheeler |first2=Maureen |year=2005 |publisher=[[Tuttle Publishing|Periplus Editions]] |isbn=978-0-670-02847-4}}</ref>

===In film===
<!--This section is for NOTABLE AND SOURCED examples that have some SPECIFIC SIGNIFICANCE to the genre. As there are many film mondegreens, this list includes *only* examples in tilm titles and instances where a mondgreen is an essential feature of the plot. -->

A monologue of mondegreens appears in the 1971 film ''[[Carnal Knowledge (film)|Carnal Knowledge]]''. The camera focuses on actress [[Candice Bergen]] laughing as she recounts various phrases that fooled her as a child, including "Round John Virgin" (instead of "'Round yon virgin...") and "Gladly, the cross-eyed bear" (instead of "Gladly the cross I'd bear").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scripts.com/script.php?id=carnal_knowledge_5090&p=9|title=Carnal Knowledge Movie Script|access-date=10 March 2020}}</ref> The title of the 2013 film ''[[Ain't Them Bodies Saints]]'' is a misheard lyric from a folk song; director David Lowery decided to use it because it evoked the "classical, regional" feel of 1970s rural Texas.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.indiewire.com/2013/08/aint-them-bodies-saints-exclusive-video-interview-with-david-lowery-update-196541/ |title='Ain't Them Bodies Saints' Exclusive Video Interview with David Lowery UPDATE {{!}} IndieWire |last=Thompson |first=Anne |website=IndieWire |access-date=18 October 2016 |quote=The title was a misreading of an old American folk song that captured the right "classical, regional" feel, he said at the Sundance premiere press conference. |date=15 August 2013 |archive-date=19 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160619171238/http://www.indiewire.com/2013/08/aint-them-bodies-saints-exclusive-video-interview-with-david-lowery-update-196541/ |url-status=live }}'' (in the article text, not the video)''</ref>

In the 1994 film ''[[The Santa Clause]]'', a child identifies a ladder that Santa uses to get to the roof from its label: The Rose Suchak Ladder Company. He states that this is "just like the poem", misinterpreting "out on the lawn there arose such a clatter" from ''[[A Visit from St. Nicholas]]'' as "Out on the lawn, there's a Rose Suchak ladder".<ref name="Duralde">{{cite book|title=Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas|first=Alonso |last=Duralde |publisher=Limelight Editions|year=2010|page=15 |isbn=978-0-87910-376-7}}</ref>

===In television===
<!--This section is for NOTABLE AND SOURCED examples that have some SPECIFIC SIGNIFICANCE to the genre. As there are many TV mondegreens, this list includes *only* examples in titles and instances where a mondegreen is an essential feature of the show or advertisment. -->

Mondegreens have been used in many television advertising campaigns, including:

* An advertisement for the 2012 [[Volkswagen Passat]] touting the car's audio system shows a number of people singing incorrect versions of the line "Burning out his fuse up here alone" from the [[Elton John]]/[[Bernie Taupin]] song "[[Rocket Man (song)|Rocket Man]]", until a woman listening to the song in a Passat realizes the correct words.<ref>{{cite AV media |title=2012 Passat Commercial: That's what he says?|via=YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uibqTxCJxLI |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018033436/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uibqTxCJxLI |archive-date=18 October 2013 |url-status=dead|access-date=28 November 2011}}</ref>
* A 2002 advertisement for [[T-Mobile International AG|T-Mobile]] shows spokeswoman [[Catherine Zeta-Jones]] helping to correct a man who has misunderstood the chorus of [[Def Leppard]]'s "[[Pour Some Sugar On Me]]" as "pour some shook up ramen".<ref>{{cite AV media |title=Def Leppard T-Mobile Commercial|via=YouTube |date=12 January 2009 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWalP8U-GZc |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/FWalP8U-GZc |archive-date=11 December 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=11 April 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
* A series of advertisements for [[Hitachi Maxell|Maxell]] audio cassette tapes, produced by [[HHCL|Howell Henry Chaldecott Lury]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Kanner|first=Bernice|title=The 100 best TV commercials—and why they worked|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gD6TAAAAIAAJ|year=1999|publisher=Times Business|page=151|isbn=9780812929959}}</ref> shown in 1989 and 1990, featured misheard versions of "[[Israelites (song)|Israelites]]" (e.g., "Me ears are alight")<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTuM1fNzSgQ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016012516/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTuM1fNzSgQ |archive-date=16 October 2015 |url-status=dead|title=Maxell Tapes 80's advert for Maxell Audio Cassette Tapes |date=29 November 2012 |first1=Ron |last1=Heimink |via=YouTube|access-date=27 February 2014}}</ref> by [[Desmond Dekker]] and "[[Into the Valley]]" by [[the Skids]]<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAsmf1LGcpA |date=4 July 2006 |last1=OrientFan |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/DAsmf1LGcpA |archive-date=11 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Skids – "Into The Valley" Maxell advert|via=YouTube|access-date=27 February 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref> as heard by users of other brands of tape.
* A 1987 series of advertisements for [[Kellogg Company|Kellogg]]'s ''Nut 'n Honey Crunch'' featured a joke in which one person asks "What's for breakfast?" and is told "Nut 'N' Honey", which is misheard as "Nothing, honey".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Video Ad Library: Kellogg Co. – Nut N' Honey Crunch |url=http://www.adrespect.org/common/adlibrary/adlibrarydetails.cfm?QID=9&ClientID=11064 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027073053/http://www.adrespect.org/common/adlibrary/adlibrarydetails.cfm?QID=9&ClientID=11064 |archive-date=27 October 2022 |publisher=Jensen AdRespect Advertising Education Program}}</ref>

===In video games===

The video game ''[[Super Mario 64]]'' involved a mishearing during [[Mario]]'s encounters with [[Bowser]]. [[Charles Martinet]], the voice actor for Mario, explained the line was "So long, King-a Bowser";<ref>{{Cite tweet |last=Martinet |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Martinet |user=CharlesMartinet |number=1122713913269710848 |date=28 April 2019 |title=So long kinga Bowser! |access-date=17 July 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lane |first=Gavin |date=29 April 2019 |title=Charles Martinet, Voice Of Mario, Clears Up A Decades-Long Debate |url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/04/charles_martinet_voice_of_mario_clears_up_a_decades-long_debate |access-date=2024-07-17 |website=Nintendo Life |language=en-GB}}</ref> however, it was misheard as "So long, gay Bowser". The misinterpreted line became a [[Internet meme|meme]],<ref>{{Cite news |date=19 September 2020 |title=So long, "gay Bowser" – fans lament the loss of Mario 64's most famous line in Super Mario 3D All-Stars |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/mario-doesnt-shout-gay-bowser-in-super-mario-3d-all-stars-mario-64 |access-date=2024-07-17 |work=Eurogamer.net |language=en}}</ref> in part popularized by the line's removal in some updated rereleases of the game.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hernandez |first=Patricia |date=18 September 2020 |title=Internet pours one out for Super Mario 64's 'Gay Bowser,' who is dead now |url=https://www.polygon.com/2020/9/18/21445859/super-mario-64-nintendo-switch-3d-all-stars-gay-bowser-bye-charles-martinet |access-date=2024-07-17 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=19 September 2020 |title=Super Mario 3D All-Stars removes bizarre 'gay Bowser' line |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/games/super-mario-3d-all-stars-64-so-long-gay-bowser-nintendo-switch-b498058.html |access-date=2024-07-17 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>

Other games in the ''Mario'' series, like ''[[Mario Party (video game)|Mario Party]]'' and ''[[Mario Kart 64]]'', also involve a mondegreen. Whenever the character [[Wario]] loses a minigame or a race, respectively, he says something along the lines of, "D'oh! I missed!" However, since he was originally designed to be German and his original voice actor, Thomas Spindler, was German, many people have heard this voice line as the German phrase "So ein Mist!", which means "oh, [[Wiktionary:crap|crap]]" in English. Spindler has said that this was the line he recorded in an interview in 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Casey |date=2016-12-15 |title=Voice Actor Says Wario Was Originally Intended To Be A German Character |url=https://www.siliconera.com/voice-actor-says-wario-originally-intended-german-character/ |access-date=2025-04-18 |website=Siliconera |language=en-US}}</ref> Charles Martinet, who is Wario's voice actor, has said that the voice line he recorded for the game was indeed "D'oh! I missed!" in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-06 |title=Random: Charles Martinet Adds To Decades-Old Confusion Over Wario 'D'oh, I Missed' Dialogue |url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/11/random_charles_martinet_adds_to_decades-old_confusion_over_wario_doh_i_missed_dialogue |access-date=2025-04-18 |website=Nintendo Life |language=en-GB}}</ref>

In the video game ''[[Final Fantasy XIV]]'', the lyrics for the boss theme "Ultima" are "Beat, the heart of Sabik" but the English speaking audience heard the voice lines as "big fat tacos" instead. This resulted in fan video remixes with the misunderstood lyrics.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d6XaW5TeD0 |title=Big Fat Tacos - Ruby Weapon's theme misheard lyrics |date=2020-02-22 |last=theSrex |access-date=2025-04-19 |via=YouTube}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=April 2025}}} Developer Square Enix acknowledged the misunderstanding and embraced the joke,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-07-17 |title=FINAL FANTASY XIV on Twitter: "Big fat tacos 🌮 Big fat tacos 🌮 Big fat tacos, so big 🌮 #FFXIV #InternationalTacoDay" / Twitter |url=https://twitter.com/FF_XIV_EN/status/1312769450383269892 |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=web.archive.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717062929/https://twitter.com/FF_XIV_EN/status/1312769450383269892 |archive-date=2022-07-17}}</ref> and made tacos a major plot point in the expansion ''Dawntrail''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-06 |title=The FFXIV Dawntrail Taco Stand Is Real (In-Game) |url=https://www.mmorpg.com/previews/the-ffxiv-dawntrail-taco-stand-is-real-in-game-2000131779 |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=MMORPG.com |language=en}}</ref>

===Other notable examples===

<!--This section is for NOTABLE AND SOURCED examples that have some SPECIFIC SIGNIFICANCE to the genre. -->
The traditional game [[Chinese whispers]] ([[Telephone game|"Telephone" or "Gossip"]] in North America) involves mishearing a whispered sentence to produce successive mondegreens that gradually distort the original sentence as it is repeated by successive listeners.
Among schoolchildren in the US, daily rote recitation of the [[Pledge of Allegiance (United States)|Pledge of Allegiance]] has long provided opportunities for the genesis of mondegreens.<ref name="Carroll" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kissthisguy.com/5929misheard.htm |title=I pledge a lesions, To the Flag, Of the Unitedstatesevamerica, For witchit stans, One nation, Under God, Invisible, With Liberty, And Justice., Frall. misheard lyric by Francis Bellamy, Pledge of Allegiance |date=21 February 2008 |website=KissThisGuy |access-date=18 July 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001024400/http://www.kissthisguy.com/5929misheard.htm |archive-date=1 October 2011 }} Or, for instance: "... And to the republic; For which it stands; One nation underdog; With liver, tea, and justice for all".</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Lord|first=Bette Bao|title=In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson|date=1984|publisher=Harper|location=New York|isbn=978-0-06-440175-3|title-link=In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson}} The main character Shirley recites, "I pledge a lesson to the frog of the United States of America, and to the wee puppet for witches' hands. One Asian, in the vestibule, with little tea and just rice for all." Note that "under God" is missing because it was added in the 1950s, whereas the novel is set in 1947.</ref>

Speech-to-text functionality in modern smartphone messaging apps and search or assist functions may be hampered by faulty [[speech recognition]]. It has been noted that in text messaging, users often leave uncorrected mondegreens as a joke or puzzle for the recipient to solve. This wealth of mondegreens has proven to be a fertile ground for study by speech scientists and psychologists.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Vitevitch|first1=Michael S.|last2=Siew|first2=Cynthia S. Q.|last3=Castro|first3=Nichol|last4=Goldstein|first4=Rutherford|last5=Gharst|first5=Jeremy A.|last6=Kumar|first6=Jeriprolu J.|last7=Boos|first7=Erica B.|date=13 August 2015|title=Speech error and tip of the tongue diary for mobile devices|journal=Frontiers in Psychology|volume=6|pages=1190|doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01190|issn=1664-1078|pmc=4534828|pmid=26321999|doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Notable collections===

The classicist and [[Linguistics|linguist]] Steve Reece has collected examples of English mondegreens in song lyrics, religious [[creeds]] and liturgies, commercials and advertisements, and jokes and riddles.  He has used this collection to shed light on the process of "junctural metanalysis" during the [[Oral tradition|oral transmission]] of the ancient Greek epics, the ''[[Iliad]]'' and ''[[Odyssey]]''.<ref>Steve Reece, ''Homer's Winged Words: The Evolution of Early Greek Epic Diction in the Light of Oral Theory'' (Leiden, Brill, 2009) esp. 351–358.</ref>