mondegreen

Noun

mondegreen (plural mondegreens)

1. A form of (possibly intentional) error arising from mishearing a spoken or sung phrase, possibly in a different language.
   • Our report of a relative who, as a child, thought the classic version of the Lord's Prayer began "Our father, a chart in heaven, Harold be thy name" stated that this type of mistake is known as an eggcorn. A number of readers have suggested that instances like this in which a whole phrase rather...2006 November 18, “Feedback”, in New Scientist, archived from the original on 24 May 2016, page 218
   • The title lyric ["Bei Mir Bistu Shein"], the only part of the original Yiddish preserved by Cahn, was a mondegreen waiting to happen—“My Mere Bits of Shame” and “My Beer, Mr. Shane” were among the earliest recorded mishearings—but the language barrier didn't […]2012, Gary Rosen, Unfair to Genius: The Strange and Litigious Career of Ira B. Arnstein, Oxford University Press, →ISBN

   Synonyms:

   mishearing

2. (rare) A misunderstanding of a written or spoken phrase as a result of multiple definitions.