According to dictionary.com, a mondegreen is a "word or phrase resulting from a misinterpretation of a word or phrase that has been heard."  The word "mondegreen" was coined by writer Sylvia Wright in the 1950's.

As a young girl, she had heard the Scottish poem, "The Bonny Earl of Murray", written in the 17th century. The first verse of this ballad is:

Ye Higlands and ye Lawlands,

O where hae ye been?

The hae slain the Earl of Murray

And hae laid him on the green

Sylvia Wright heard this ballad, and thought the last line was "And hae Lady Mondegreen". It wasn't until many years later that Ms. Wright discovered that Lady Mondegreen did not exist, and that, in fact, the Earl's slain body was put on display. In an essay that appeared in Harper's Magazine in November 1954, titled "The Death of Lady Mondegreen", Ms. Wright wrote, "The point about what I shall hereafter call mondegreens, since no one else has thought up a word for them, is that they are better than the original." Sometimes, but not always.

While most commonly used to describe misheard song lyrics, a mondegreen can be used when referring to any misheard word or phrase. Columnist Jon Carroll of the San Francisco Chronicle refers to a mondegreen as "the breakdowns in meaning that occur somewhere between the sound source and your ear". Mondegreens can occur in everyday language as well as in song lyric interpretations. "Dog eat dog world" can be misinterpreted as "doggy dog world", no holds barred" becomes "no holes barred", and "out of harms way" is heard as "out of arms sway".

Mondegreens happen all the time in our house. I'll share some funny misinterpretations and misheard words between my husband and I as time goes on. In the meantime, if you have a mondegreen to share, send me a comment.