Lady Mondegreen Gets Her Due
Merriam-Webster has added more than 100 new entries to its new edition of the Collegiate Dictionary. My favorite — definitely a word I’ll be weaving into my lexicon — is mondegreen. Can you decipher its meaning? A hint: “Very close veins” is a mondegreen for “varicose veins.”
mondegreen (n.) — a word or phrase that results from a mishearing of something said or sung.
According to Merriam-Webster, mondegreen first appeared in the English language in 1954. Its etymology derives from the mishearing in a Scottish ballad of “laid him on the green” as “Lady Mondegreen.”
These words are so new that your spell checker will probably underscore them with squiggly red lines. But it’s probably safe to say that you can start dropping some of these bad boys in Scrabble. A few choice additions of note:
fanboy (n.) — a boy who is an enthusiastic devotee (as of comics or movies).
air quotes (n.) — gesture made by raising and flexing the index and middle fingers of both hands, used to call attention to a spoken word or expression.
edamame (n.) — immature green soybeans, usually in the pod.
pretexting (n.) — the practice of presenting oneself as someone else in order to obtain private information.
webinar (n.) — live, online educational presentation during which participating viewers can submit questions and comments.
wing nut (n.) — 1. a nut with wings that provide a grip for the thumb and finger
2. slang : a mentally deranged person
3. slang : one who advocates extreme measures or changes : radical.