In the 1800s, Rev. William Archibald Spooner coined the term "spoonerism" to describe the flipping of initial letters of word pairs or phrases. His coinage for the verbal slip we all make periodically brought attention to some fun phrasings. The following are attributed to Spooner:
We'll have the hags flung out! (flags/hung)
Our shoving leopard (loving/shepherd)
You've tasted two worms (wasted/terms)
You hissed my mystery lecture (missed/history)
Before I knew what they were called, I liked to say:
I'm going to shake a tower!
Some folks refer to the "whole fam damily", which I would never do. Others refer to themselves as "smart fellers", which is yucky. I do like these, though:
Go help me sod
Hit my bunny phone
The lead of spite
belly jeans
And, of course, if you do it right, A Tale of Two Cities takes on a completely different feel.
I'm interested in your favorites, and encourage you to check out one of the Kings of contemporary spoonerism, Bill Strauss, one of the founding members of the Capitol Steps.
http://www.capsteps.com/lirty/falicornia.html
7 comments:
Hmmm... this does not really apply as it is not letters but words, but one of my favorite slips was made by one of my dearest friends while we were in college. We were walking together through a grocery store late one night, getting some BigK Cola and while passing a display case he looked down and said,
"Hmmm, Fruitend with Sweet. (beat) Did I just say..."
I still laugh when I think about that.
Though it doesn't fit the strict definition, "fruitened with sweet" certainly is in line with Rev. Spooner's flubs. He is said to have once introduced a hymn in church as "Kingquering Kongs." I love that one.
Also: why is it so interesting to me that he was a reverend? Is it the thought of Braking the Ted and Kinking the Drup?
Good to hear from you...
Good to be heard from.
I've been working on spooning "Tale of Two Cities" all morning. I keep ending up with "Tale of Two Cities."
Accordingly...I am not amused.
Wait, let me try one more time...
Hmmm. Slightly more amused now,
Thanks!
What about Satten your Feetbelts? That one makes me giggle. It's not exactly correct, but I am quoting my favorite boy.
Here's one I coined some time ago. An unclean one, I should add: The front of a cow.
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