Spoonerism

Named after the Reverend William Archibald Spooner[?] (1844-1930), who would oft switch letters around (see metathesis) when he spoke, the spoonerism is a now legendary slip of the tongue. Some of the Reverend Spooner's famous (and possibly apocryphal) quotes from the chapel 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?" Other gaffes worth mentioning are 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," actually intended to say missed history, lighting fire, wasted terms, and down train.

In modern terms, spoonerism refers to any swapping of letters in this manner. While dimple enough to sue, a clever spoonerism is one that fesults in a runny sentence. The Capitol Steps[?] have successfully done a few political comedy routines based on this premise. The comedian Ronnie Barker played the Reverend in a sketch on The Two Ronnies[?] TV show.

This article was created by a fart young smellow.

See also: Pun