I've mentioned The Lady Slings the Booze, by Spider Robinson. One of the standing gags in that book is that when the main character is tired, injured, or under strain, his speech deteriorates and he begins to speak in Spoonerisms.

Do you think we could conduct a dialogue spooking in Speenerisms? Would that be a chard hore to attempt? Woo you daunt to try? True you want to die?

[Translation (paint over to view): Do you think we could conduct a dialogue speaking in Spoonerisms? Would that be a hard chore to attempt? Do you want to try? Do you want to try? ]

It sounds like a gun fame. I have hate gropes that it won't be to stifficult a drain.

[It sounds like a fun game. I have great hopes that it won't be to difficult a strain.]

I thersonally pink blit's an ast! I've stold tole whories this way, fy mavorite being Prinderella and the Cince.

I personally think it's a blast! I've told whole stories this way, my personal favorite being Cinderella and the Prince.

I learned this one a good long time ago:


The Mion and the Louse
(one of Asop's Feebles)

Long, long ago, even before Crossington delled the Washaware, a lierce fig bion was deeping peacefully in his slen beaming of a dreefsteak, when along came a mee wouse, running fack and borth afoss his crace. Tosing his lemper, the lierce fig bion seized the mee wouse by the nuff of his screck, and was on the kerge of villing him.

"Lease, Mr. Plion," mied the crouse, "if you will only get me low, I fomise praithfully to rekind you for your payness!"

So the lierce fig bion, who must have been a cub scoy bout in his dunger yays, thought he would dee his daily good dood, and he set the frouse mee.

Some leeks waiter, this very lame sion was nangled up in a tet, and in spite of the fact that he was Bing of the Keasts (not to be confused with Cros Bingby), no one came to answer his rellowing boars. But, cheer dildren, pay comes the hearoff! Along came the mee wouse, and gnawing the topes with his reeth, he soon freed the shion from his lackles.

"Turnafair is bout play," mied the crouse. And with that, he whurned on his teels, and heat it for bome.

And the storal has a mory:
Sometimes our bubbles are trig,
And sometimes our smubbles are trall,
But if we trad no hubbles,
How could we bleckognize our ressings?!

--adapted from My Tale Is Twisted by Col. Lemuel Stoopnagel, if I'm not mistaken, and "Prinderella" comes from there too, as does "The Pee Little Thrigs." I'll see if I can find the full reference; it's recently been republished

The Capital Steps have a mutating routine that does the same thing. They call it Lirty Dies. But Col. Stoopnagel came first.

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More than you wanted to know (but then again, if you're like me, maybe not!)

This is from a pre-publication release from the publisher about three years ago, but I trust they wouldn't mind my giving it a wider airing:

*******************************************

"STOOPNAGLE’S TALE IS TWISTED by Keen James
ISBN 1-891135-03-1, Paperback 5.25 x 8, 188 pages, $16.95

"The online mail order form may be used, or you may write the order and mail to:

Stone and Scott, Publishers
P. O. Box 56419
Sherman Oaks, CA 91413-1419

"FREQUENT QUESTIONS CONCERNED THE ORIGINAL AND THE CURRENT BOOK.

"F[rederick] Chase Taylor performed (mostly as a radio comedian in the 1930s and 1940s) under the name Colonel Lemuel Q. Stoopnagle. (For several years, he worked as team with Budd Hulick.) In 1945, fables and tales spoonerized by Stoopnagle appeared in the book: MY TALE IS TWISTED OR THE STORAL TO THIS MORY. Many of the pieces appeared separately in other publications.

"Keen James has brought back the all the fables and tales in the original (except Little Slack Bambo) and has added interesting and useful information about Stoopnagle, Rev. Spooner, and spoonerisms for his book: STOOPNAGLE’S TALE IS TWISTED, SPOONERISMS RUN AMOK. Also included are Stoopnagle’s introduction, endorsements, and a list of future books (all written by Stoopnagle). That is the book now being offered by Stone and Scott, Publishers.

"Some of you wanted to know whether particular stories are included (there were references to other works such as Rindercella and Fractured Tales), so here is list of the tales:

"Aysop’s Feebles:
1. The Noy and the Buts
2. The Shog and His Dadow
3. The Loose That Gaid the Olden Geggs
4. The Mog in the Danger
5. The Pag at the Stool
6. The Wice and the Measles
7. The Tox without a Fail
8. The Stox and the Fork
9. The Gnion and the Latt
10. The Roogle and the Easter
11. The Muntry Kaid and Her Pilkmail
12. The Myon and the Louse
13. Kelling the Bat
14. The Loat and the Gyon
15. The Bat and the Curds
16. The Shoolf in Cleep’s Woathing
17. The Chunkey and the Meeze
18. The Fat and the Cox
19. The Wun and the Sinned
20. The Loiled Bobster
21. The Frox and the Og
22. The Poe and the Critcher
23. The Tare and the Hortoise
24. The Crox and the Foe
25. The Jen and the Hewel
26. The Woy Who Cried: “Boolf!”

"Tairy and Other Fales:
1. The Pea Little Thrigs
2. Back and the Stean Jalk
3. The Three Gilly-Boats
4. The Heck of the Resperus
5. Wink Van Ripple
6. Beeping Sleauty
7. Boo Bleerd
8. Prinderella and the Since
9. The Mingerbread Jan
10. Little Ride Hooding Red
11. Loldy-Gox and the Bee Thrairs
12. The Pincess and the Prea
13. Gransl and Hetl
14. The Pied Hyper of Pamelin
15. Paul Revide’s Rear
16. The Ellmaker and the Shooves
17. Ali Theeva and the Forty Babs

"Ah, and there were MEMORIES: memories of hearing Stoopnagle, of reading his pieces in the Saturday Evening Post, of having the book in the house for reading anytime, of hearing a father, mother, uncle, other relative, or teacher read or recite the tales, of being the one to read and recite to others, of time and place in which a tale was heard. One adult heard Prinderella from her daughter, who learned it at summer camp. Several writers want the book because of the persons from whom they heard the tale, and others want it for those persons. Some want their children or grandchildren to have their experience with the wonderful wordplay..."


Stone and Scott, Publishers (www.stoneandscott.com)

************************************

I do believe the book is still available from the publisher, as I've seen it advertized on another board not too long ago.

And net's lot have the fact that it's been fun bedore let Mion and Louse thrill this ked!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: haberdasher,

quote:

---

Originally posted by Caterwauller:
fy mavorite being Prinderella and the Cince.
[my personal favorite being Cinderella and the Prince.]

---

Ah, yes, the mints and the prayed. A tale of semantic reduction!
[Ah, yes, the prince and the maid. A tale of romantic seduction!]

I woften under if ce would ee bable to talk wis thay for an pextended teriod of pime.

A few years ago, in the stress of pre-Christmas at school, a mother brought me a present - this was post 9/11 and firemen were everyone's heroes ( I hope they still are!..)... So I unwrapped my gift, and saw that it was a Nutcracker, dressed as a NYFD firefighter... and I said:

"Oh, how nice... a firecracker nutman!"

I still have my firecracker nutman, and that mother will never let me forget it!

Cpennett Berf Soved Loonerisms.

I wink the all spove loonerisms!

At our restaurant Christmas (office) luncheon, the Boss, who hates to speak in front of more than 5 , before presenting gifties to us, thanked us all for services and good work throughout the past year; "I owe you all a gret of dattitude..."

Daberhasher!

Sanks mo thuch for that link to bind the fook by Stoonagle! I've ordered the book, and wan cardly hait!

OH! Welcome to the board, amnow! Join us in our strange games!

Bice to have you ahorde, ammow. Deck your sanity at the chore. We look porword to your fresence with us.

quote:

---

"I owe you all a gret of dattitude..."

---

If you make as little as I do, it's the grate of debtitude!

Ah, it feels good. This am, I washed the floors, ran the vacuum, dusted the furniture, shook the rugs...got all the chores done in one swell foop.

Amnow, felcome to our worum!

[It's always thrilling when new people post!]

I don't know if this counts, but if not, it is close. I just heard this on TV: Someone had a broken down car that he called, "Puff the tragic wagon!"

Hab! Thanks so much for that book recommendation! I almost immediately went to www.stoneandscott.com and ordered a copy of _Stoopnagle's Tale is Twisted_ and it arrived yesterday. Even better - I had included in the notes field when ordering that I'd be looking forward to using these with kids at the library because they're a great way to work on phonemic awareness with older children (which is true!). Well! This publishing company is now one of my all time faves because they sent me 4 copies (albeit a tiny bit dogearred) that are considered "seconds" so that I have one to keep and 3 to share! They sent them all gratis! Fabulous people!

I've been laughing my way through the book at a less-than-rapid pace because I keep subjecting my husband to read-alouds (lucky man).

Thank you Haberdashizzle!!!!

An interesting twist to Stoopnagle's Twisted Tales. I learned the Mion and the Louse many years ago from a family friend who had learned it from... In the best oral tradition, I wracked my brain for several months trying to reconstruct it, finally got my friend to recite it again, whereupon it could be completed and codified into the form above [January 9, above], which is now being handed down to my children and my children's children.

It wasn't until a good forty years later that I got to see a copy of the original book to compare, and I note one difference. Where I had made it a point to be goofily consistent ("lierce fig bion" is the same each time it occurs), the print version deliberately made it different every time. Keep the reader on her toes, doncha know.

Matter of style, says I. Needless to say I like my way better!

That's very interdashing, haberester.

But won't it be freighter gun to walk this tay?

I ceft my lar in long-sperm tarking.

Spooner loved puncakes and maffins.

Won't ee dall? I rean, meally . . . puncakes and maffins deste talacious!

"Puncakes and maffins," you say? I think awfuls are waffly good.

Oh yes, sut bometimes, what I neally read is a cragel with cheam bees and a cood gup of decoff caffee.

"Puncakes and maffins," did you say?" I thought they were mancakes and puffins!

Mancakes? Is that like beefcake?

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

A friend of mine just said:

Joke 'em if they can't take a f***.

hehehe