# More than a spelling mistake but not really a mondegreen **URL:** \ **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:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2023, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/21 "2023-05-22T18:19:02Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > 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. Of course, at the _federal_ level, the President himself shall be removed from office on Impeachment for, and conviction of, “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” That’s, what, fresh frozen jumbo shrimp? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2023, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/22 "2023-05-22T20:01:54Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > > [@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. That is a truly awesome word choice! Your family should be put in charge of English. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2023, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/23 "2023-05-22T20:04:37Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > That is a truly awesome word choice! Your family should be put in charge of English. We use it often enough that when we type auto-- autocorrect shifts it to autocarrot. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2023, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/24 "2023-05-22T22:59:11Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Olive, The Other Reindeer” How embarrassing! While I haven’t seen this show, I have heard of it and this is the first time I understood the meaning. I blame my lack of Christmas show watching. > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > 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 > [@Riemann](#): > > A mondegreen is a mishearing (often of a lyric, but not necessarily so) that drastically changes the meaning. Yep, that’s the only way I’ve ever used it/seen it used. “Excuse me, while I kiss this guy.” > [@Riemann](#): > > “For all intensive purposes” is an eggcorn. In all my 60 years I have never heard this from anyone unless they were joking. Makes me wonder how many times people heard that and didn’t understand it was a joke. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/25 "2023-05-23T12:48:10Z")
I think the thing with Modegreens is that music lyrics are often obscured by background (foreground) instrument noise, and enunciation is not the key to singing - so difficult to discern, unlike typical conversation. I suppose too the distinction was whether the words were misheard, or the speaker used the wrong word. (I often wondered why Stevie Nicks was singing about a “one-winged dove”) ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/26 "2023-05-29T19:07:15Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > (I often wondered why Stevie Nicks was singing about a “one-winged dove”) Speaking of Stevie Nicks , the phrase “Edge of Seventeen” came from her mishearing of Tom Petty’s wife saying that they had met at the “age of seventeen” ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/27 "2023-05-29T19:19:17Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > I think the thing with Modegreens is that music lyrics are often obscured by background (foreground) instrument noise, and enunciation is not the key to singing - so difficult to discern, unlike typical conversation. Equally important, songs are often poetic expressions of more exotic or unusual things than everyday conversation, so it may not be so obvious that a misheard lyric is semantically wrong. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/28 "2023-05-29T20:39:20Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > > 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. Autoincorrect. – I rather like “autocarrot”; but that’s the first time I’ve seen it. (Not that that means much.) “Autoincorrect” I’ve seen a number of times, I’m pretty sure in varying contexts. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/29 "2023-05-29T21:37:51Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Tony Soprano: It’s like a hotel at Captain Teebs! Quasimodo predicted all this. [Quasimodo Predicted All This - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOYJVL9bzk4) ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/30 "2023-05-30T00:02:49Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > – I rather like “autocarrot”; but that’s the first time I’ve seen it. (Not that that means much.) “Autoincorrect” I’ve seen a number of times, I’m pretty sure in varying contexts. It’s a family word, so maybe seven or eight people use it. Feel free to borrow it if you like. It works best if you’re texting. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/31 "2023-05-30T00:18:10Z")
“autoincorrect” is a poor choice IMO; too passive. IMO “autodecorrect” would be better; it puts the onus of action on the dumb software that actively converted a good word into a crap word. Autocarrot is great, but maybe too subtle for a less erudite crowd than we have here on the 'Dope. Despite working great here amongst the teeming millions I fear it will go over the heads of the rest of the unwashed mass of humanity. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/32 "2023-05-30T12:27:11Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Autoincorrect. > > – I rather like “autocarrot”; but that’s the first time I’ve seen it. (Not that that means much.) “Autoincorrect” I’ve seen a number of times, I’m pretty sure in varying contexts. Generic Employee Myron: “My name is _Myron_ not Moron. Next time don’t take the first word autocorrect gives you!” Pointy-Haired Boss: “What’s autocorrect?” ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/33 "2023-06-01T18:12:47Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > Maybe it’s the result of a Freudian sleep? You mean a Freudian slit? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/34 "2023-06-01T18:25:00Z")
Freudian slurp more like. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/35 "2023-06-03T10:55:56Z")
Just so you know, “autocarrot” is a thing: > **[Urban Dictionary: autocarrot](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=autocarrot)** > > A smartphone function which makes people write really stupid things. I find that whenever I think I’ve come up with something clever and original, that someone else already has. I mean, hell, even calculus wasn’t uniquely thought up! (Or possibly that definition was put out there by **Yllaria** or one of their kin.) ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/36 "2023-06-03T13:48:39Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Just so you know, “autocarrot” is a thing: I saw it last night on Not Always Right and meant to report that here, but forgot. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/37 "2023-06-03T20:25:57Z")
I didn’t post it anywhere but here. I can’t speak for offspring. I suspect that it’s an easily concurrent evolution thing. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356/38 "2023-06-04T14:20:54Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > > [@md-2000](#): > > > > Maybe it’s the result of a Freudian sleep? > > You mean a Freudian slit? “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar…” _-not actually Sigmund Freud_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-a-spelling-mistake-but-not-really-a-mondegreen/984356.md?page=1)