Olive, the Other Reindeer and Other Misunderstood Christmas Lyrics

olive-reindeer

Did you know that misunderstood lyrics have their own special word? They are called mondegreens.” The neologism was coined in 1954 in the magazine Harper’s Bazaar when a woman named Sylvia Wright discovered, to her surprise, that the last line of a famous Scottish ballad was “and they laid him on the green”, and not, as she had always sung it, “and Lady Mondegreen.”

Christmas lyrics seem to have many mondegreens. Perhaps because most of us learn carols and popular Christmas songs as children and kids are willing to just give it a go.

Here are some examples of some holiday-infused mondgreens:

fleas_navidad

Feliz Navidad

fleas_naughty

Sing it, Jose!

first_noel

The First Noel 

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ferret_christmas

Frosty the Snowman 

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abominable

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

rudolph_lyrics

santa_coming

Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town

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