A “mondegreen” is a misheard lyric or phrase–for example, Jimi Hendrix wailing “‘Scuse me while I kiss this guy” (instead of “kiss the sky”). Small children are of course masters of this art, and here are some recent entries:
- “Dad-O, what is a ‘To-fu Panda’?,” Finn asked yesterday. The guys are familiar with tofu, but they don’t know about Kung-Fu or about Kung-Fu Panda.
- In the car Finn began crooning, “I’ve got Moose-Like Jacket.” This was, I think, a great improvement on the Maroon 5 song he had in mind, “Moves Like Jagger.” I’ll bet such a jacket would be great for “taking [one’s] guts to town,” as Finn says. He’s heard Johnny Cash singing about “don’t take your guns to town, son,” and has protested “But we need to take our guts! Otherwise the food would fall onto the ground!!”
G-Man isn’t quite to Finn’s level, of course, but he’s getting there: This weekend he overheard me telling my friend Matthew about the window glass, and he asked, “Is there a drink in the glass?”
[For more examples, see previous.]