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A spoonerism is a play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched (see metathesis), 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 (sometimes spoonerised as tips of the slung), they are considered a form of pun when used purposely as a play on words. Examples of Spoonerisms Many of the quotes attributed to Spooner are apocryphal - The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (3rd edition, 1979) only lists one substantiated Spoonerism - "The weight of rages will press hard upon the employer". Some of the more famous quotations attributed to Spooner include "The Lord is a shoving leopard," "It is kisstomary to cuss the bride," and "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?). Other gaffes include his angry speech 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" (intending to say "missed all my history lectures", "lighting a fire", "wasted two terms", and "down train", respectively). He supposedly remarked to one lady, during a college reception, "You'll soon be had, as a matter of course", when he meant to say "Mad as a Hatter, of course". Others include "Let us raise our glasses to the queer old Dean", "We'll have the hags flung out", "a half-warmed fish" and "Is the bean dizzy?" Modern usage In modern terms, a spoonerism is any changing of sounds in this manner. While simple enough to do, a clever spoonerism is one that results in a funny phrase or sentence. "Flutterby" is an oft-cited example of a spoonerism that has not lost its original meaning. When a digraph such as 'sh', 'ch', 'ph', etc... is used, both letters are moved to preserve the original verbal sound. For example, 'Cheer for Dennis' would be 'Deer for Chennis'. Best described or illustrated to new English speakers would be the transposition of the first staccato or plosive in a word pair such as: Peer Dark. Examples in modern culture Spoonerism in Dutch Spoonerisms in Dutch are made in the exact same manner as in English. For example: "met vereende krachten" will become "met verkrachte eenden" (Translated: "with joined forces" spoonerised into: "with raped ducks"). Spoonerism in Finnish Spoonerisms are prolific in a few other languages. For example, the quirks of the selection of phonemes lend themselves well to this purpose. Finnish sananmuunnokset (literal translation 'word transformations' does not capture the spoonerism hidden in the original Finnish compound) are mainly used in jokes. Before transformation a Finnish spoonerism is something innocent and after transformation something obscene. A Finnish spoonerism is usually performed by telling the innocent version and letting the listener figure out the outcome. Spoonerism in French The French contrepèterie is also facilitated by a strong Rabelaisian tradition for coarse, if witty, humour. Contrepéteurs excel in finding in seeming innocuous phrases the elements for the lewd and humorous. According to French tradition—and unlike the examples provided below—one should never utter nor write the second part of a spoonerism. Only the first part should be said, leaving readers or listeners trying hard to find the second funny part. Actually giving the solution of a spoonerism is considered distasteful. This is somewhat similar to certain American jokes involving spoonerisms, in which one asks questions like "What is the difference between a rooster and a lawyer?" and provides only the non-spoonerised part of the answer ("One clucks defiance..."), leaving the usually-vulgar punch-line ("...the other fucks the clients") for the listener to come up with, although it is far more subtle without the explicit joke formulation. A famous example is the weekly column "Sur l'Album de la Comtesse" in the French weekly satirical journal Le Canard Enchaîné. - For example, Les nouilles cuisent au jus de canne les couilles nuisent au cul de Jeanne(which translates roughly as, the noodles cook in juice of cane: the balls hurt the arse of Jane). The s and l in jus and cul are silent in French. One from French comedian Coluche: Quand les Nippons bougent, la Chine se dresse quand les nichons bougent, la pine se dresse(which translates as, when the Japanese move, China reacts when the nipples move, the penis erects). Similarly, the French word for a tumble dryer, un sèche-linge, could give rise to a spoonerism un lèche-singe which would mean a person who licks monkeys. A French radio announcer was reputed to say, instead of Les populations du Cap (the population of Cap-Haïtien): Les copulations du Pape. (The Pope's copulations). Spoonerism in German The German Schüttelreim ('shake rhyme') is a rhyme where the initial consonants (or even the following vowels) of the last two stressed syllables are exchanged with one another. For example, Es klapperte die Klapperschlang', — bis ihre Klapper schlapper klang. (by Heinz Erhardt) - The rattlesnake rattled, until her rattles sounded flabbier. A popular spoonerism in German language derives from the German adaptation of the TV-show Saturday Night Live. A series of sketches was aired which had the title Kentucky schreit ficken. This spoonerism of Kentucky fried chicken means: Kentucky yells fuck. Spoonerism in Polish Jokes based on spoonerism are quite popular in the Polish language, they are collectively called as Gra półsłówek ('A play with monosyllabes'). They often require a bit of imagination in order to find out which letters need to be changed to get a new meaning. Very often the new meaning is more or less rude. The game's name itself is a spoonerism – switching the bolded letters results in Sra półgłówek, which means 'A dim-witted one is having a shit'. Some Polish sports commentators are also well-known for their spoonerisms (among other lapsuses), made unwittingly in the heat of the action. Spoonerism in Swedish Similar jokes are told in the Swedish language, conventionally stating which one of two similar-sounding options the teller would prefer, as in: Bättre en back läsk i hallen än ett läskigt hack i ballen. meaning "Rather a crate of sodas in the hall than a horrible cut in the wang." Other examples include Bättre att borsta katten än att kasta bort den ("Better to brush the cat than throwing it away") and Bättre att frysa i tältet än att tälta i frysen ("Better to freeze in your tent than tenting in your fridge.") Spoonerism in Hungarian The Hungarian kecskerím (goat rhyme) is a rhyming form where there are two rhyming words in each line, and in the second line, the starting letters of the rhyming words are exchanged, like "Ne ülj le a kőre, Pandúr, / Megkarmol egy pőre kandúr!" (Don't sit on the stone, Policeman, as a tom-cat will scratch you!). Another example of Hungarian spoonerism is creating word pairs like "Vali fejlesztése" (Vali's development) and "Lali fejvesztése" (Lali's beheading). Spoonerism in Danish The Danish term for spoonerism is "bakke snagvendt", which is itself a spoonerism of "snakke bagvendt" (i.e. talk backwards). The term is derived from a song by the puppet stars of the children's TV-show Kaj og Andrea. The song itself contains mainly spoonerisms based on the swapping around of one or two phonemes rather than syllables or morphemes. Spoonerism in Spanish In spanish, is usual to use spoonerism as a euphemism, or to hide the harsh meaning of a sentence. For example, is usual to say "Una cabra de bolones", instead of "Una bola de cabrones" ("A granite goat" instead of "a bunch of assholes"). Connections with Psychology When the words that a spoonerism alters are both real words or names, unintended meanings can manifest. One political argument was unintentionally cut short when an irate conservative responded heatedly to what he considered an untrue assertion. He tried to compare rival candidates for the presidency of the United States of America. After three or four words, however, he gave up, realizing that he had already expressed his feelings on the subject. He had said, "Now, Cord and Farter ...", uttering both a spoonerism and a Freudian slip. He was referring to candidates Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter. See also | |||||||
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