spoonerism en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Etymology
From Spooner + -ism, named after Oxford don Reverend W. A. Spooner (1844–1930), who is supposed to have habitually made such slip-ups.
Meanings
-
(rhetoric) A play on words on a phrase in which the initial (usually consonantal) sounds of two or more of the main words are transposed.
Undergraduates at Oxford University were playfully fond of Spooner, whom they nicknamed "the Spoo". They also coined the term "spoonerism" around 1885, after Spooner had been a fellow at New College for almost twenty years. By 1892, his reputation for absentmindedness was well known; students came to New College expecting to hear a spoonerism.
2007, Michael Erard, Um…: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean, page 16:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| spoonerisms | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| Spoonerism | alternative | lexicographic |
Relateds
spooneristically · spooneristic
Synonyms
Translations (31)
fr contrepèterie (phrase where sounds are transposed) · th คำผวน (phrase where sounds are transposed) · it spoonerismo (phrase where sounds are transposed) · vi (phép) nói lái (phrase where sounds are transposed) · cmn 首音互换 (phrase where sounds are transposed) · da bakke snagvendt (phrase where sounds are transposed) · es espunerismo (phrase where sounds are transposed) · es espunerismos (phrase where sounds are transposed) · pt spoonerismo (phrase where sounds are transposed) · ca antístrofa (phrase where sounds are transposed) · ru каламбу́р (phrase where sounds are transposed) · fi sananmuunnos (phrase where sounds are transposed) · es retruécano (phrase where sounds are transposed) · eo kontraŭknalo (phrase where sounds are transposed) · hu szavakon átívelő metatézis (phrase where sounds are transposed) · ko 두음전환 (phrase where sounds are transposed) · pl gra półsłówek (phrase where sounds are transposed) · vi (phép) nói trại (phrase where sounds are transposed) · pt antístrofe (phrase where sounds are transposed) · fr contrepet (phrase where sounds are transposed) · ru спунери́зм (phrase where sounds are transposed) · ja 語音転換 (phrase where sounds are transposed) · el παραδρομή γλώσσας (phrase where sounds are transposed) · br treuzviezadenn (phrase where sounds are transposed) · ru спунери́зм (phrase where sounds are transposed) · gv Spooneraght (phrase where sounds are transposed) · ca contrapet (phrase where sounds are transposed) · hu szpúnerizmus (phrase where sounds are transposed) · nl spoonerisme (phrase where sounds are transposed) · pt trocadilho (phrase where sounds are transposed) · pl spuneryzm (phrase where sounds are transposed)