# More than a spelling mistake but not really a mondegreen
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 21, 2023, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356 "2023-05-21T10:24:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@nicky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nicky)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2023, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/1 "2023-05-21T10:24:31Z")
Whats the technical term for this kind of language error
“Crimes and Mr. Meaners “
Its more than a spelling mistake, but doesn’t have the meaning shift of a mondegreen or eggcorn.
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### Author:  [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2023, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/2 "2023-05-21T10:33:22Z")
Malapropism ?
> **[Malapropism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malapropism)**
>
> A malapropism (also called a malaprop, acyrologia, or Dogberryism) is the mistaken use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, sometimes humorous utterance. An example is the statement attributed to baseball player Yogi Berra, regarding switchhitters, "He hits from both sides of the plate. He's amphibious." Malapropisms often occur as errors in natural speech and are sometimes the subject of media attention, especially when made by politicians Hu...
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2023, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/3 "2023-05-21T10:33:51Z")
> [@](#):
>
> “Crimes and Mr. Meaners “
I don’t get how that’s _not_ a mondegreen. Isn’t the whole point of calling it that was that “Lady Mondegreen” got so invented — much like, say, “Olive, The Other Reindeer” did?
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### Author:  [@nicky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nicky)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2023, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/4 "2023-05-21T11:13:59Z")
Hmm. Im not 100% convinced by either because i think the wrong word in a malapropism or mondegreen has to independently make sense. And its not a covfefe because its not utter gibberish either.
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### Author:  [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2023, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/5 "2023-05-21T11:17:12Z")
Irregardless, for all intensive purposes it’s a mute point.
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2023, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/6 "2023-05-21T11:27:20Z")
> [@nicky](#):
>
> Hmm. Im not 100% convinced by either because i think the wrong word in a malapropism or mondegreen has to independently make sense.
To me, hearing _“slain the Earl of Moray, and laid him on the green”_ and figuring it’s _“slain the Earl of Moray, and Lady Mondegreen”_ has no obvious make-sense advantage over rendering _“crimes and misdemeanors”_ as _“crimes and Mister Meaners.”_
Why do you think one would make more sense than the other?
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2023, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/7 "2023-05-21T12:05:36Z")
Tony Soprano: It’s like a hotel at Captain Teebs!
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2023, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/8 "2023-05-21T12:22:05Z")
IMO the correct term for the OP’s example is:
> Computer speech recognition error uncorrected due to lack of human proofreading.
I don’t know that society has settled on a one-word term for that concept.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2023, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/9 "2023-05-21T12:34:06Z")
PEBCAK or ID-10-T error
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2023, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/10 "2023-05-21T12:35:18Z")
The palindrome of “Bolton” is “Notlob.” It don’t work!
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2023, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/11 "2023-05-21T12:38:04Z")
I’m not sure how the example in the OP isn’t a meaning shift.
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### Author:  [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2023, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/12 "2023-05-21T14:36:34Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#):
>
> Irregardless, for all intensive purposes it’s a mute point.
Maybe it’s the result of a Freudian sleep?
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### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2023, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/13 "2023-05-21T14:41:14Z")
> [@nicky](#):
>
> i think the wrong word in a malapropism or mondegreen has to independently make sense
But the word “mondegreen” doesn’t mean anything, the sound is misinterpreted as a surname, and although it’s a plausible-sounding name it’s not one that exists (so far as I’m aware). If “Mondegreen” were “Smith” or “Johnson” you might have a point, but it’s hard to come up with a more perfect parallel than “Crimes and Mr. Meaners”.
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### Author:  [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2023, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/14 "2023-05-21T18:49:46Z")
A mondegreen is specifically a misheard song lyric though. I think the word you’re looking for is “[eggcorn](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eggcorn)”.
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### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2023, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/15 "2023-05-21T19:02:09Z")
> [@Manduck](#):
>
> A mondegreen is specifically a misheard song lyric though. I think the word you’re looking for is “[eggcorn](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eggcorn)”…
I don’t think that’s the difference. A mondegreen is a mishearing (often of a lyric, but not necessarily so) that drastically changes the meaning. An eggcorn often does not change the meaning significantly, it just misunderstands the exact wording that is being used to express the meaning. An eggcorn often involves the substitution of some other plausible metaphor that is taken to mean exactly (or almost) the same thing.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2023, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/16 "2023-05-21T19:12:32Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#):
>
> Irregardless, for all intensive purposes it’s a mute point.
That’s just another one of whatever it’s called. The actual phrase would be ‘all intensive porpoises’.
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### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2023, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/17 "2023-05-21T19:14:07Z")
“For all intensive purposes” is an eggcorn. It’s the wrong words but people are still interpreting it with approximately the correct meaning. That’s why it persists - the semantics work fine, so it’s not obvious from context that it’s wrong.
“Crimes and Mr. Meaners” is not an eggcorn, it is a mondegreen. The meaning has changed drastically. That also accounts for the fact that mondegreens are often from lyrics, rather than use in general communication where such a gross semantic error will often be more obvious from context.
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### Author:  [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2023, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/18 "2023-05-22T11:12:05Z")
The etymology for “Misdemeanor” is minor crime. So we see today there are charges for “Serious Misdemeanors” or, _serious minor crimes_.
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2023, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/19 "2023-05-22T17:52:06Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> IMO the correct term for the OP’s example is:
>
> > Computer speech recognition error uncorrected due to lack of human proofreading.
>
> I don’t know that society has settled on a one-word term for that concept.
In our family, we call it an autocarrot.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2023, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/20 "2023-05-22T18:15:10Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#):
>
> The etymology for “Misdemeanor” is minor crime. So we see today there are charges for “Serious Misdemeanors” or, _serious minor crimes_.
It does have a ‘jumbo shrimp’ feel to it. I guess some minor crimes can be more serious than others. Actual shrimp sizes are measured by count to weight, like 25-30 per pound. Descriptions of actual laws should be somewhat more precise also, and I think they usually are with different classes applied to the specific offense.
A quick look shows me that there’s no consistency state by state for those classifications. Here in Rhode Island a _misdemeanor_ is a crime with a maximum sentence of 1 year and a maximum fine of $1000. A maximum sentence of 6 months and a maximum fine of $500 would make it a _petty misdemeanor._
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