Spoonersim shared by Vasudeva Rao

A spoonerism is a word  named after the Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844–1930), Warden of New College, Oxford, who was notoriously prone to this mistake. The term "Spoonerism" was well established by 1921.


One expert calling "Kinkering Kongs their Titles Take" (with an alternative spelling) as one of the "few" authenticated Spoonerisms, dates it to 1879, and he gives nine examples "attributed to Spooner. They are as follows:

• "Three cheers for our queer old dean!" (rather than "dear old queen," which is a reference to Queen Victoria)
• "Is it kisstomary to cuss the bride?" (as opposed to "customary to kiss")
• "The Lord is a shoving leopard." (instead of "a loving shepherd")
• "A blushing crow." ("crushing blow")
• "A well-boiled icicle" ("well-oiled bicycle")
• "You were fighting a liar in the quadrangle." ("lighting a fire")
• "Is the bean dizzy?" ("Dean busy")
• "Someone is occupewing my pie. Please sew me to another sheet." ("Someone is occupying my pew. Please show me to another seat.")
• "You have hissed all my mystery lectures. You have tasted a whole worm. Please leave Oxford on the next town drain." ("You have missed all my history lectures. You have wasted a whole term. Please leave Oxford on the next down train.")

." While spoonerisms are commonly heard as slips of the tongue resulting from unintentionally getting one's words in a tangle, they can also be used intentionally as a play on words

COMMENT: It is extremely difficult( almost impossible) to deliver a whole monologue full of Spoonerisms. In the entire history of Comedy ONLY ONE MAN- RONNIE BARKER of England could achieve this amazing feat.