Message Boards

by **skullturfq** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 8:53 am

For a long time, in Tina Turner's song "What's Love Got To Do With It", I misheard the line

"What's love but a second-hand emotion"

as

"What's love but a second handy motion".

It's interesting when the correct version and the incorrect version are actually homophones. (In singing, one often can't hear breaks between words.)

So you can't correct your misconception by just "listening harder" -- you have to have that "aha" moment one day.

by **seaborgium** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 7:57 am

skullturfq: That would be an example of a mondegreen!

Mine: I suddenly realized at age 17 that "Eeyore" was onomatopoeia.

by **grodney** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 8:04 am

seaborgium wrote:Mine: I suddenly realized at age 17 that "Eeyore" was onomatopoeia.

I did not know that.

by **SpiffWilkie** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 8:06 am

seaborgium wrote:skullturfq: That would be an example of a mondegreen!

Mine: I suddenly realized at age 17 that "Eeyore" was onomatopoeia.

Sorry, just read a topical comic this morning:

[/URL]

by **Whatsahoe** » Sun Feb 13, 2011 7:01 pm

A denominator is a math term...not an Arnold Schwarzennegger character.

by **skullturfq** » Sun Feb 13, 2011 9:08 pm

Whatsahoe wrote:A denominator is a math term...not an Arnold Schwarzennegger character.

Or a ZZ Top album.

by **Whatsahoe** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 4:34 pm

duct tape is not duck tape

by **TheConfessor** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 5:09 pm

Whatsahoe wrote:duct tape is not duck tape

True, except when it is.

by **SavantGarde** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 10:54 am

About 30 different Madonna songs. Listened to them as a kid & had no clue what she was singing about. Got older & didn't listen to Madonna. Got older still & listened again (because now it's nostalgic) and wow...

What's even funnier is that my wife is a Madonna fan & refuses to hear me on this. She swears I just have a dirty mind & 'I'm down on my knees/I wanna take you there' doesn't mean what I say it does. :lol:

by **Whatsahoe** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 3:57 pm

It was a while ago when I was a youngster in grade school and knee-high to a grasshopper that I and the rest of my class learned the hard way that the capital city of Rhode Island (Providence) and the political subdivisions of Canada (Province) are not the same.
We stayed after school for an hour going between the two terms and getting it straight.

by **rjmason** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 7:20 pm

TheConfessor wrote:
Whatsahoe wrote:duct tape is not duck tape

True, except when it is.

Amazingly, all duct tape is duck tape. That is, the term "duck tape" is slightly older, and "duct tape," although almost as old, is presumably the misheard variant. According to the OED.

"Duck" tape is derived from the Dutch word "doek" (cloth, linen).

I forget how old I was when I learned this but I was certainly surprised.

by **elgee** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 11:27 am

And let's not forget the always popular song by Neil Diamond...Reverend Bluejeans (Forever in Bluejeans)! There are people I know who'll bet a year's salary that this title is correct!

by **ScarletKnights** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 1:51 pm

A joke and a song title where box is used as slang for female private parts.

The joke is from the movie The Adventures of Ford Fairlane.

The song title is a Justin Timberlake song from SNL.

One day it just hit me. Duh, box...

by **Whatsahoe** » Wed Feb 23, 2011 8:21 am

Castrate and incarcerate

abreast and a breast

by **ScarletKnights** » Wed Feb 23, 2011 6:39 pm

When Joan Baez covered "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" she didn't have the original lyrics. She went by what she thought she heard The Band sing. That's why some of the lyrics are slightly off.

by **Whatsahoe** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 6:37 am

Even though I never watched the show, it never occurred to me that the 90210 in Beverley Hills 90210 actually meant something.

by **puck71** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 9:58 am

ScarletKnights wrote:The song title is a Justin Timberlake song from SNL.

No, they're talking about an actual box. Like a gift-wrapped present. Is there some double entendre at some level? Sure, probably.

by **jzerocsk** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 10:31 am

puck71 wrote:
ScarletKnights wrote:The song title is a Justin Timberlake song from SNL.
No, they're talking about an actual box. Like a gift-wrapped present. Is there some double entendre at some level? Sure, probably.

Sometimes a phallus in a carton really is just a phallus in a carton.

by **braggtastic** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:46 am

For years I thought the lyrics of a song consisted of nonsense syllables mairsey dotes and dosey dotes and little lamseydivey until I saw the proper lyrics written out.

by **jzerocsk** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:11 am

braggtastic wrote:For years I thought the lyrics of a song consisted of nonsense syllables mairsey dotes and dosey dotes and little lamseydivey until I saw the proper lyrics written out.

It's actually explained in the bridge if you get that far in the song:

If the words sound queer
And funny to your ear,
A little bit jumbled and jivey
Sing "Mares eat oats
And does eat oats
And little lambs eat ivy"

by **marpocky** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:29 am

jzerocsk wrote:
braggtastic wrote:For years I thought the lyrics of a song consisted of nonsense syllables mairsey dotes and dosey dotes and little lamseydivey until I saw the proper lyrics written out.

It's actually explained in the bridge if you get that far in the song:

If the words sound queer
And funny to your ear,
A little bit jumbled and jivey
Sing "Mares eat oats
And does eat oats
And little lambs eat ivy"

The verses, up to that point, actually do have the nonsense words, so you're both right!

by **hhammond** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 8:32 pm

When I was young I thought the garbage collectors were lucky that they only had to go out once a week (every Friday where I lived) and would get the rest of the week off. It was only until much later that I realized that they work different sections of town each day.

by **marpocky** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 10:36 pm

hhammond wrote:When I was young I thought the garbage collectors were lucky that they only had to go out once a week (every Friday where I lived) and would get the rest of the week off. It was only until much later that I realized that they work different sections of town each day.

I had a similar issue with the mail. Growing up, we always got our mail around 3-4 pm. When I moved out here, I was routinely getting it before 11am. I thought it was great that they did it so much earlier here until I realized my stupidity.

by **Bert** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 11:29 am

rjmason wrote:
TheConfessor wrote:
Whatsahoe wrote:duct tape is not duck tape

True, except when it is.

Amazingly, all duct tape is duck tape. That is, the term "duck tape" is slightly older, and "duct tape," although almost as old, is presumably the misheard variant. According to the OED.

"Duck" tape is derived from the Dutch word "doek" (cloth, linen).

I forget how old I was when I learned this but I was certainly surprised.

Not only that, but you shouldn't use it on ducts either (at least not long-term). The adhesive degrades over time due to the temperature changes. They make special foil tape for ducts.

by **wishiwasvulcan** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 9:14 pm

Deleting my post because I realize the odds of anyone on a message board being old enough to get the cultural reference are nill (because we aren't Vulcans and don't live hundreds of years).

Message Boards

Ohhh... NOW I get it!

Who is online