Listen-up Sentence Examples

Have you ever found yourself struggling to figure out the actual words to a song? Have you sometimes sung along to a tune for years before realizing you're using an incorrect phrase? If so, you've experienced mondegreen. This type of linguistic error occurs when someone mishears a phrase and concludes that it says something entirely different from the actual wording.

When it comes to well wishes and life blessings, no one beats the Irish for turn of phrase. Popular Irish blessings and proverbs, such as “May the road rise up to meet you,” are sure to put a smile on anyone’s face. But what about the phrases that are a little darker — especially those ones about the Devil and the gallows? Believe it or not, those proverbs are as well-intentioned (and quintessentially Irish) as a rainbow kissing the Blarney Stone.