I happened to be on a site tonight that had a lot of spoonerisms (click "spoonerisms"). It made me wonder, are spoonerisms a little like England's Cockney?

No. They were named after Rev W A Spooner, an Oxford don, who had this impediment. Probably nowadays he would be diagnosed with a form of dyspraxia. Most of the spoonerisms attributed to him are apparently apocryphal, alas. His students and colleagues apparently held contests to come up with the best spoonerism. Perhaps my favourite is queer old dean (for dear old queen).

More on the fact that most examples were made up is at World Wide Words.

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

What arnie said. A spoonerism is a kind of lapsus linguae ('a slip of the tongue' or speech error). Cockney rhyming slang is more of a language game (link) like Pig Latin. That is, it is an intentional system of language modification that impedes casual interpretation of utterances by those who are unfamiliar with the system.

Also, Cockney (link) itself is a full-fledged dialect (regional variety) of British English and oughtn't to be confused or equated with Cockney rhyming slang. It is spoken in the eastern part of London (mostly in the East End).

Didn't we discuss spoonerisms way back when the yourd was bung?

Yup. They've been mentioned several other times over the years, too.

EDIT: BTW, I see that I mentioned Kenny Everett's "Cupid Stunt" in that thread. Apparently the BBC bosses blocked his original name for the character, "Mary Hinge"*, because they were afraid of an accidental spoonerism by a continuity announcer. They weren't so careful with the second effort, though ...

* That might not mean much to American readers: suffice it to say that the second word is coarse slang for a "lady garden".

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Originally posted by arnie:
. . . a form of dyspraxia . .. .

Is that why Anjelina Jolie and Brad Pitt named their baby Shiloh?

Shiloh Pitt ??!

quote:

A spoonerism is a kind of lapsus linguae ('a slip of the tongue' or speech error). Cockney rhyming slang is more of a language game

I didn't mean completely like Cockney, of course, but when I was thinking about it, they seemed pretty similar in the end. I guess, in a way, I am saying the end doesn't justify the means.

quote:

Didn't we discuss spoonerisms way back when the yourd was bung?

Now, Geoff. Have I ever let that stop me before?

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Originally posted by shufitz:


Shiloh Pitt ??!

OYYYYYY!!! ROFLMAO!!!