Soramimi and Lady Mondegreen…
… walked into a bar… Lady M. was “laid on the green”, and tall, Italian Mimi was injured as well.
Some readers already know about mondegreens…the mis-heard words, lyrics etc. that lead to imperfect understanding and sometimes unexpected imagery.
“Scuse me, while I kiss this guy” (Jimi Hendrix).
But have you heard of ‘‘Soramimi’?”
Thought I’d look up ‘mondegreen’ in Wiki for yuks , just the way I pored through the Webster’s Third when younger. Probably while dodging homework too!
SF Chronic columnist Jon Carroll devotes a page a year to mondegreens.
It used to be top forty radio mis-hearing. The older & deafer I become, the more sources of these mondegreens I have. Ordinary conversation coming from mumbly hubby.
Television, which is always tuned too softly.
Tis grand to repeat what I just heard to my less & less amused mate (psst! Note to self: get a hearing aid).
Wikipedia says that mondegreens are NOT TO BE CONFUSED with ‘soramimi kashi’ (foreign song lyrics which yield unprintably vile Japanese meanings). These soramimi are so hot (esp. when explicated) that Wiki has them on probation.
Hence this post. Before soramimi has to go to charm school, or juvenile detention, please read.
And have a laugh on me.
P.S. Alert rider Anne Cutler (calendar wiz) tells me there’s a great documentary on the typeface (er, font) known as Helvetica, which turned fifty this year I b’lieve. Check it oot.
I became interested in the concept of “mondegreen” in late 2007. One thing led to another, and now I’m the administrator of a flaky effort at MandyGreenProject.com largely aimed at helping establish “mondegreen” as a household word. It involves a novel that centers on a mondegreen. Everyone is invited to check it out, but particularly anyone named Mandy Green!