Spoonerisms
Created | Updated Mar 12, 2002
Spoonerisms are the accidental transposition of the initial sounds of two or more words.
They take their name from the Reverend William Archibald Spooner
(1844 - 1930) an English clergyman and academic who was warden
of New College, Oxford between 1903 and 1924. Typical quote:
"Let us drink to the queer old Dean".
Spoonerisms are often employed deliberately for comic effect,
so if somebody calls you "a shining wit", it is not necessarily
a complement.
Another notable example of a spoonerism was British DJ and
Comedian Kenny Everett's character, the bearded female starlet
Cupid Stunt. "It's all done in the best possible taste!"
They take their name from the Reverend William Archibald Spooner
(1844 - 1930) an English clergyman and academic who was warden
of New College, Oxford between 1903 and 1924. Typical quote:
"Let us drink to the queer old Dean".
Spoonerisms are often employed deliberately for comic effect,
so if somebody calls you "a shining wit", it is not necessarily
a complement.
Another notable example of a spoonerism was British DJ and
Comedian Kenny Everett's character, the bearded female starlet
Cupid Stunt. "It's all done in the best possible taste!"
