英语语法：18 Spoonerisms, Mondegreens

Grammar Girl here.

I believe I've said before that speaking and writing are two different skills. Since I'm in a summertime mood, I thought it would be fun to go beyond grammar rules today and talk about some funny errors—such as spoonerisms, mondegreens, eggcorns, and malapropisms—that people make when speaking or listening.

Spoonerisms, mondegreens, eggcorns, and malapropisms are all instances where you hear or say something other than the correct phrase.

Spoonerisms
“Spoonerisms” are words or phrases where the order of the sounds is mixed up, such as flutterby for butterfly and ossifer for officer. [See this comment; flutterby and ossifer are better classified as metatheses. - GG] They're called spoonerisms after Reverend William Archibald Spooner, who lived in Oxford¹ in the late 1800s and early 1900s and who was reported to rampantly² make these slips of the tongue. There are unintentional spoonerisms that don't make sense, such as cimmanon and goys and birls (for cinnamon and boys and girls), and then there are spoonerisms that create new, amusing meanings such as keys and parrots (for peas and carrots) and better Nate than lever (for better late than never).

I confess that on more than one occasion I have called my relatives Gail and Dave, Dale and Gave—sorry!

There are also intentional³ spoonerisms. For example, Keen James wrote a book called Stoopnagle's Tale Is Twisted: Spoonerisms Run Amok  that retells fairytales using spoonerisms. Chapters include “Beeping Sleuty” and “Prinderella and the Since.” Christopher Manson wrote a book called The Rails I Tote, which has 45 spoonerism cartoons for readers to decipher (such as bee tags for tea bags). And Shel Silverstein authored a book called Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook, which obviously uses spoonerisms.

As I was researching this topic, I also came across many spoonerisms that seemed to be intentional attempts to eliminate swear words while still getting the point across. Some of the less offensive examples include nucking futs (from the movie Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star), biserable mastered (from the video game Escape from Monkey Island), bass⁴ ackwards, and no wucking furries.

It makes me wonder if Reverend Spooner is grolling over in his rave⁵!

Mondegreens
On to mondegreens! Whereas spoonerisms are slips of the tongue, mondegreens are errors of the ears. They are the mishearing of something, usually a song lyric⁶, so that a new meaning is created. For example, in the song “Bad Moon Rising,” by Creedence Clearwater Revival⁷, people have reported mishearing the lyric There's a bad moon on the rise as There's a bathroom on the right.

The name “mondegreen” was coined by a writer named Sylvia Wright who misheard a line from a 17th-century Scottish ballad⁸.

Ye Highlands and ye Lowlands,
Oh, where hae ye been?
They hae slain⁹ the Earl of Murray,
And laid him on the green.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately for the future of word play), Wright heard the last line as And Lady Mondegreen instead of And laid him on the green.

Wright had imagined a second slaying¹⁰ victim where there was none, and when she discovered the error she decided¹¹ to name the phenomenon after the nonexistent Lady Mondegreen.

Some of my favorite mondegreens come from children’s misinterpretations of the Pledge of Allegiance.  I'm thinking of the scene in the movie Kindergarten Cop where the kids are saying the Pledge, and if I remember right there are lines like I led the pigeons to the flag and One Nation under God, invisible, with liver tea and Justice for all.

There are lots of great mondegreens from popular music. I like these three from The Eurythmics, Toto, and Cyndi Lauper: mistaking Sweet dreams are made of this* for Sweet dreams are made of cheese, mistaking I blessed the rains downin Africa for I guess it rains down in Africa, and mistaking When the working day is done, Girls, they want to have fun for  What in the world can they get done? Girls, they want to have fun.

If you like mondegreens, Gavin Edwards has written a series of books about them, including 'Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy, When a Man Loves a Walnut¹², and He's Got the Whole World in His Pants.

I like to imagine the mythical¹³ Lady Mondegreen happily singing along.

Eggcorns
Eggcorns have been described only recently as a separate phenomenon. The term was coined in 2003 as a result of a discussion on the Language Log website. The name “eggcorn” comes from a discussion about a woman who misheard the word acorn¹⁴ as eggcorn. Such a change isn't a mondegreen because it doesn't create a new meaning, and it isn't a spoonerism (or a malapropism) because the swapped¹⁶ words sound the same—they're homophones.

Other examples of eggcorns include coming down the pipe instead of coming down the pike, duck tape instead of duct tape**, and chomping¹⁷ at the bit instead of champing at the bit. Many of the most common eggcorns seem to swap¹⁵ in homophones in familiar phrases, such as H-E-R-E for H-E-A-R in here, here,  B-A-I-L-I-N-G for B-A-L-I-N-G  in baling wire, and T-O-W instead of T-O-E in toe the line.

If you think eggcorns are fun, the men who coined the term have written a book called Far From the Madding Gerund.

Malapropisms
Finally, there are malapropisms—the only one of these errors without a fun story behind the origin of the name. “Malapropism” is derived¹⁸ from a French phrase meaning “badly for the purpose.” It came into popular usage to describe the silly misuse¹⁹ of words after the playwright²⁰ Richard Sheridan named one of his characters, who had a habit of ridiculously mixing up words, Mrs. Malaprop. (The play is called The Rivals.)

Malapropisms occur when someone substitutes a similar-sounding word for another word. For example, George Bush was reported to say, “nuclear power pants” instead of “nuclear power plants” in 2003, and, in Sheridan’s play, Mrs. Malaprop said, “He's the very pineapple of politeness” instead of “He's the very pinnacle²¹ of politeness.”

1 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

2 rampantly   

粗暴地，猖獗的

参考例句：

• Weeds grew rampantly around here. 这里周围长满了杂草。

3 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

4 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

5 rave   

vi.胡言乱语；热衷谈论；n.热情赞扬

参考例句：

• The drunkard began to rave again.这酒鬼又开始胡言乱语了。
• Now I understand why readers rave about this book.我现明白读者为何对这本书赞不绝口了。

6 lyric   

n.抒情诗，歌词；adj.抒情的

参考例句：

• This is a good example of Shelley's lyric poetry.这首诗是雪莱抒情诗的范例。
• His earlier work announced a lyric talent of the first order.他的早期作品显露了一流的抒情才华。

7 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

8 ballad   

n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲

参考例句：

• This poem has the distinctive flavour of a ballad.这首诗有民歌风味。
• This is a romantic ballad that is pure corn.这是一首极为伤感的浪漫小曲。

9 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

10 slaying   

杀戮。

参考例句：

• The man mimed the slaying of an enemy. 此人比手划脚地表演砍死一个敌人的情况。
• He is suspected of having been an accomplice in the slaying,butthey can't pin it on him. 他有嫌疑曾参与该杀人案，但他们找不到证据来指控他。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 walnut   

n.胡桃，胡桃木，胡桃色，茶色

参考例句：

• Walnut is a local specialty here.核桃是此地的土特产。
• The stool comes in several sizes in walnut or mahogany.凳子有几种尺寸，材质分胡桃木和红木两种。

13 mythical   

adj.神话的；虚构的；想像的

参考例句：

• Undeniably,he is a man of mythical status.不可否认，他是一个神话般的人物。
• Their wealth is merely mythical.他们的财富完全是虚构的。

14 acorn   

n.橡实，橡子

参考例句：

• The oak is implicit in the acorn.橡树孕育于橡子之中。
• The tree grew from a small acorn.橡树从一粒小橡子生长而来。

15 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

16 swapped   

交换（工作）( swap的过去式和过去分词 )； 用…替换，把…换成，掉换（过来）

参考例句：

• I liked her coat and she liked mine, so we swapped. 我喜欢她的外套，她喜欢我的外套，于是我们就交换了。
• At half-time the manager swapped some of the players around. 经理在半场时把几名队员换下了场。

17 chomping   

v.切齿，格格地咬牙，咬响牙齿( chomp的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Elizabeth and Lawrence are chomping at the bit to go on vacation. 伊莉莎白和劳伦斯迫不及待要去度假了。 来自互联网
• She was chomping away on a bagel. 她在嘎蹦嘎嘣地啃着一个硬面包圈。 来自互联网

18 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

20 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

21 pinnacle   

n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰

参考例句：

• Now he is at the very pinnacle of his career.现在他正值事业中的顶峰时期。
• It represents the pinnacle of intellectual capability.它代表了智能的顶峰。