spoonerism

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See also: Spoonerism

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Spooner +‎ -ism, named after Oxford don Reverend W. A. Spooner (1844–1930), who is supposed to have habitually made such slip-ups.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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Examples
  • “The queer old dean” (for “the dear old Queen”)
  • Reports of a shortage of snacks at the spoonerism conference turned out to be a complete lack of pies.

spoonerism (plural spoonerisms)

  1. A play on words on a phrase in which the initial (usually consonantal) sounds of two or more of the main words are transposed.
    Synonym: marrowsky
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Translations

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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