spoonerism

American  

[spoo-nuh-riz-uhm] / ˈspu nəˌrɪz əm /

noun

1. the transposition of initial or other sounds of words, usually by accident, as in a blushing crow for a crushing blow.

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spoonerism British  

/ ˈspuːnəˌrɪzəm /

noun

1. the transposition of the initial consonants or consonant clusters of a pair of words, often resulting in an amusing ambiguity of meaning, such as hush my brat for brush my hat

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spoonerism Cultural  

1. A reversal of sounds in two words, with humorous effect. Spoonerisms were named after William Spooner, an English clergyman and scholar of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In one spoonerism attributed to him, he meant “May I show you to another seat?” but said, “May I sew you to another sheet?”

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Etymology

Origin of spoonerism

First recorded in 1895–1900; after W. A. Spooner (1844–1930), English clergyman noted for such slips; see -ism

Explanation

A spoonerism is a speech error in which the speaker switches the initial consonants of two consecutive words. If you say "bunny phone" instead of "funny bone," you've uttered a spoonerism. "Jelly beans" becomes "belly jeans." "Son, it is now kisstumary to cuss the bride." You get the idea. We owe the invention of the spoonerism, or at least its great fame, to a nineteenth-century English reverend named Archibald Spooner, who was famous for mixing up his words. The first two examples above, by the way, are modern spoonerisms. The last? A 100% genuine original spoonerism.

Example Sentences

Take William Spooner, the son of the famously muddled professor of Spoonerism fame, who perfected tumble dryers after watching washing dance in the wind between terraced houses on his train commute to Bradford.

From The Guardian • Jan. 30, 2011

Spoonerism It sounds like such a nice word.

From BBC • Dec. 29, 2010

Once he committed a Spoonerism, when he referred to "train-busters" Corcoran & Cohen.

From Time Magazine Archive

When metathesis extends beyond one word we have what is known as a Spoonerism, the original type of which is said to be— "Kinquerings congs their titles take."

From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Weekley, Ernest

There might be some little joke made at her expense on the effect of Grandmamma Mapp’s invention if this lovely Spoonerism was published.

From Miss Mapp by Benson, E. F. (Edward Frederic)