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Mondegreens

Posted by TheFallen on February 09, 2003

In Reply to: mondegreens posted by Bruce Kahl on February 09, 2003

: : looking at the origin of the word mondegreen I can't find out who 'Sylvia Wright' was who was supposed to have been the person who misheard the lyric of a Scottish folksong and from whom the expression was coined, Can anyone help as my internet browsing only reveals a humanitarian nurse of the same name.

: "I pledge a lesion to the flag, of the United State of America, and to the republic for Richard Stans, one naked individual, with liver tea and just this for all."

: See link below.

I've not researched the essayist Sylvia Wright in any detail but a wide variety of sources state her to be the coiner of the term "mondegreen" in her article called "The Death of Lady Mondegreen", appearing in the November issue of Harper's Magazine in 1954. This article was expanded in her later published book "Get away from Me with Those Christmas Gifts and Other Reactions" (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1957. Maybe this will provide you with some more leads?

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