Saturday, April 12, 2008

Spoonerisms

In year 7 i learnt what a spoonersim is and i think they are awesome so i thought i would share what they are in a blog entry. My explanation: when you mix up letters of words in a sentence to make a new sentence but the words have to be real words so it turns into a different sentence.

Wikipedias explanation: A 'spoonerism' is a play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched (see metathesis). It is named after the Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844–1930), Warden of New College, Oxford, who was notoriously prone to this tendency.
While spoonerisms are commonly heard as slips of the tongue resulting from unintentionally getting one's words in a tangle, they are considered a form of pun when used purposely as a play on words.

Examples on Wikipedia:

"The Lord is a shoving leopard" ("loving shepherd")

"It is kisstomary to cuss the bride" ("customary to kiss")

"Mardon me, padam, this pie is occupewed. Can I sew you to another sheet?" (Pardon me, madam, this pew is occupied. Can I show you to another seat?")

To a student: "You have hissed all my mystery lectures, and were caught fighting a liar in the quad. Having tasted two worms, you will leave by the next town drain" ("missed ... history," "lighting a fire," "wasted two terms," "down train")

To a lady at a college reception: "You'll soon be had as a matter of course" ("mad as a Hatter, of course")

"Let us glaze our asses to the queer old Dean" ("Let us raise our glasses to the dear old queen")

"We'll have the hags flung out" ("flags hung")

"a half-warmed fish" ("half-formed wish")

"Is the bean dizzy?" ("dean busy")

"Go and shake a tower" ("take a shower")

"a well-boiled icicle" ("well-oiled bicycle")

This was also on wikipedia thought would be good to share:Spoonerisms in Dutch are made in the same manner as in English. Examples:

met vereende krachten ("with joined forces") → met verkrachte eenden ("with raped ducks")

tot de dood ons scheidt ("until death do us part") → tot de schijt ons doodt ("until the shit kills us")

ik heb het onderspit gedolven ("I suffered a defeat") → ik heb den Dolf ondergespit ("I have buried Adolf")

een beetje scheef ("a bit crooked") → een scheetje~ beef ("a fart-quiver")

Ta Da

No comments: