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Picture of Kalleh
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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?
 
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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.

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Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
 
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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).


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
 
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Didn't we discuss spoonerisms way back when the yourd was bung?


It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti
 
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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". Roll Eyes

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Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
 
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quote:
Originally posted by arnie:
. . . a form of dyspraxia . .. .
Is that why Anjelina Jolie and Brad Pitt named their baby Shiloh?

Shiloh Pitt ??! Eek
 
Posts: 2666 | Location: Chicago, IL USAReply With QuoteReport This Post
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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. Roll Eyes
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 ??! Eek

OYYYYYY!!! ROFLMAO!!! Big Grin


It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti
 
Posts: 6168 | Location: Muncie, IndianaReply With QuoteReport This Post
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