just surfing through some sites and found a plethora of linguistic blogs and such.
this is one of my favorites. lots of good stuff from etymology to grammar.
this one is about linguistics, science fiction and other shit. pretty good, too.
was also reading up on linguistic fun:
mondegreens--and here i thought that it was Bingo Jed has a light on.
tmesis--abso-fucking-lutely!
portmanteau--i thought Calexico was just the name of an amazing band?
spoonerism--they call me bustin.jarrett.
who knew they had names for all these things, huh?
it's pretty cool, too, that the word "mondegreen" actually is a mondegreen from a mishearing of a 17th Century ballad. sweet!
i think it would be clever if the other words actually were what they described (much like an onomatepeia and mondegreen):
tmesis would be tme-fucking-sis.
portmanteau is French, and is a portmanteau of sorts. i don't know French, so i suppose this one is immune; or at least it is as for as i'm concerned.
spoonerism should be noonerspism. i like that.
good stuff.
anyway, just having some fun with language this Friday evening, procrastinating on writing that column for Upright Against The Savage Heavens. i'm the king procrastinator. the kingrastinator. the ping krocrastinator. no one can procrasti-fucking-nate like i!
nice. my wife always wanted me to be a cunning linguist.
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10 comments:
"Linguistics for your ass?"
I wonder if Peter Griffin would
laugh after reading that?
Spoonerism, spooner, and Littlewood?
Now I'm sure he'd laugh at that.
yeah, linguistics is fun, man. i really enjoy it. etymology and these little word games. i even like puns.
:)
When my oldest was little she thought this line from Frere Jacques-
Sonnez les matines. Sonnez les matines.
was
Lemon in the tea now, Lemon in the tea now.
I had never heard Mondegreen until just now. Pretty cool! :)
hilarious.
mondegreens are pretty common, actually. i didn't know there was a name for it, either, until just recently, though.
i do it ALL the time. it pisses my wife off, but i think it's great.
but, i just got my wife the other day while listening to Rocket Man by Elton John. in one lyric i was mumbling through it when she told me it was:
"gaining altitude i'd never known..."
it turns out the real lyric is:
"burning out his fuse up here alone..."
i was all, "what's up now, WOMAN! who's getting the lyrics wrong now?"
she didn't appreciate the gloating.
funny.
there's are a few books out there about common misheard lyrics and mondegreens. some are hilarious.
"wrapped up like a douchen of the roamer in the night..."
or, more accurately,
"ripped up like a deuce, another runner in the night..."
good stuff, j.
i swore it was "revved up like a douche" when i was a kid. my father loved Mannfred Mann, and he thought it was that, too.
i asked him what the song had to do with douches. AND, how exactly can one be revved up like a douche?
he didn't know.
funny. glad you enjoyed it all.
and it's a bruce springsteen penned song.
** the more you know **
really?
i didn't know Bruce wrote it. good to know.
:)
And Jimmi Hendrix song, Purple Haze,
"watch me while I kiss this guy?"
"...kiss the sky"
I think that's the title of one
of those books on misinterpreted
lyrics you mentioned.
that's right...it is the title of one of those books. apparently, Jimi was even aware of the mistaken lyrics and when he would get to that point in the sound he'd actually kiss a guy on the stage.
:)
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