Definition of spoonerism in English:
spoonerism
nounˈspuːnərɪz(ə)mˈspunəˌrɪzəm
A verbal error in which a speaker accidentally transposes the initial sounds or letters of two or more words, often to humorous effect, as in the sentence you have hissed the mystery lectures.
Example sentencesExamples
- Malapropisms and spoonerisms add colour to language.
- They speak in spoonerisms and malapropisms and put forward bizarre concepts and beliefs.
- He was for many years a cricket commentator on Indian radio, famed for his spoonerisms.
- Adam tries to object to this and other outrages, but he's so flustered that all that comes out are exasperated spoonerisms.
- The best-known of these are the sound transpositions called spoonerisms.
Origin
Early 20th century: named after the Revd W. A. Spooner (1844–1930), an English scholar who reputedly made such errors in speaking.
A spoonerism is a verbal error in which you accidentally swap round the initial parts of two words, as in ‘Our queer old dean’ instead of ‘Our dear old queen’. The term comes from the name of the Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844–1930), an Oxford academic who was reputedly prone to such slips of the tongue, although there is no hard evidence he said many of the things attributed to him. A classic ‘spoonerism’ associated with him was ‘You have tasted your worm, you have hissed my mystery lectures, and you must leave by the first town drain’, supposedly said to an idle student.
Definition of spoonerism in US English:
spoonerism
nounˈspunəˌrɪzəmˈspo͞onəˌrizəm
A verbal error in which a speaker accidentally transposes the initial sounds or letters of two or more words, often to humorous effect, as in the sentence you have hissed the mystery lectures, accidentally spoken instead of the intended sentence you have missed the history lectures.
Example sentencesExamples
- Adam tries to object to this and other outrages, but he's so flustered that all that comes out are exasperated spoonerisms.
- Malapropisms and spoonerisms add colour to language.
- They speak in spoonerisms and malapropisms and put forward bizarre concepts and beliefs.
- The best-known of these are the sound transpositions called spoonerisms.
- He was for many years a cricket commentator on Indian radio, famed for his spoonerisms.
Origin
Early 20th century: named after the Revd W. A. Spooner (1844–1930), an English scholar who reputedly made such errors in speaking.