From Snopes this morning:
I never heard or thought of most of these, although “Round John Virgin” from “Silent Night” was used as the name of a character in the mondegreen-fiiled animated special “Olive the Other Reindeer”, and MilliCal and I use “Later on we’ll perspire” from “Winter Wonderland” as an inside joke.
I always thought Ding Dong Merrily on High was a bunch of nonsense syllables, but a quick google reveals the actual lyrics
Many of these mondegreens come from the book Deck the Halls with Buddy Holly. However, it doesn’t have some of my favorites from that book, such as “Santa baby, Jeff’s disabled under the tree” or “Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, you’ll go drown in Listerine.”
Did someone call???
:smack:
Wow, do I feel sheepish…but it makes sense! Fire = perspire! Darn it. Ignorance Fought.
:o :o :o :o :o :o
:o :o :o :o :o :o <—caroling smilies
:o :o :o :o :o :o
Isn’t the original line: “Later on, we’ll conspire”?
I hope so! Otherwise our Inside Joke is just a Quotation, and nobody wants that.
Why hasn’t it been marked True, False, or Undetermined yet? I thought Barb typically didn’t post something until after researching it.
This page is two years old, and I don’t think it counts as an UL per se- it’s just for fun. As far as research goes, two books are credited.
And “conspire” is the correct word. WhyNot is just saying it’s logical for fire to make one sweat (perspire).
Or other activities by the fire can also make one sweat…
Ah. :smack:
When my mom was a little girl, her next door neighbor was name John Burgen. She always wondered why he was in a Christmas carole.
Yeah, I was saying that their “inside joke” wasn’t exclusively theirs, 'cause I thought it was “perspire” for all these years, as well. Heck, I think I even sang it that way in choir!
I always thought St. Mary must have been really fat. “Round yon virgin . . .”
I also thought there was a country called Orientar.
I can see “‘hearts’ of gold” from “it came upon a midnight clear.”
But many of the rest seem like someone trying and failing to be funny.
When I hear Bon Jovi’s rendition of “I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” I could swear he’s singing “…then I saw mommy tinkle on Santa Claus”(as opposed to tickling). Obviously I know the real words but I think my way is more funner.
I thought the three kings lived in a castle called Orien Tower.
The second verse of “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” has a line that I always thought was “And ever o’er its battle sounds / The blessed angels sing”. Always, that is, until I noticed on the sheet music I have for it that it is “And ever o’er its Babel sounds”.
I’ll admit it’s a Mondegreen, but I still insist that my version makes more sense, darnit. 
Go dress ye merry, gentlemen
You’ve nothing on this day
Remember not to save your
Wash for doing Christmas day
And save us all from visions sour
When pants have gone astray
Go find things that cover a groin
Cover a groin
Go find things that cover a groin
(not mine, probably not strictly a mondegreen either)
Not fat. Pregnant. And young.
I had a friend who really thought that.
Me too!