Mondegreen
- “what is a mondegreen”
- “misheard lyrics word”
- “who coined mondegreen”
- “lady mondegreen”
01 · Side by side
Side by side
Comparison sheet
| Aspect | Mondegreen | Eggcorn |
|---|---|---|
| Result makes sense | Not necessarily | Yes |
| Usually from | Songs and verse | Speech |
| Named | 1954 | 2003 |
| Charm | The absurdity | The logic |
02 · Which one you meant
Which one did you mean?
In shortReaders who land here meaning Mondegreen rather than Eggcorn are usually searching for phrases like “what is a mondegreen”, “misheard lyrics word”, “who coined mondegreen”.
Eggcorn
- “what is an eggcorn”
- “eggcorn vs malapropism”
- “for all intensive purposes”
- “deep seeded meaning”
03 · Which came first
Which came first
In shortMondegreen. 1954 — Sylvia Wright coins the word in Harper's Magazine, describing how as a child she misheard a line of the ballad 'The Bonny Earl of Murray'.
- 1954
Mondegreen. Sylvia Wright coins the word in Harper's Magazine, describing how as a child she misheard a line of the ballad 'The Bonny Earl of Murray'.
- 23 September 2003
Eggcorn. Mark Liberman posts on Language Log about a woman writing 'egg corns' for 'acorns', asking what to call the phenomenon.
04 · The mix-up
Where the confusion comes from
The mix-up“It's the same as an eggcorn.”
What's true
An eggcorn is a reinterpretation that still MAKES SENSE — 'egg corn' for 'acorn' is a plausible reanalysis. A mondegreen produces something that does not have to make sense at all, and often gains its charm from not making sense.
05 · Read either one