tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Feb 05 09:03:29 1999
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Re: spoonerism
- From: "William H. Martin" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: spoonerism
- Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1999 12:03:26 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time)
- In-Reply-To: <[email protected]>
- Priority: NORMAL
On Fri, 5 Feb 1999 08:46:23 -0800 (PST) Steven Boozer
<[email protected]> wrote:
> : >The word for spoon is {baghneQ}. That's a spoonerism for "flat
> : >rock", which would be {nagh beQ}.
> :
> : What's a spoonerism? Twisting letters?
> :
> : muHwI'
>
> Merriam-Webster's CollegiateŽ Dictionary online:
>
> spoo.ner.ism n [William A. Spooner d. 1930 Eng. clergyman &
> educator] (1900): a transposition of usu. initial sounds of
> two or more words (as in tons of soil for sons of toil)
>
> The Britannica Online defines it as the
>
> reversal of the initial letters or syllables of two or more words, such
> as "I have a half-warmed fish in my mind" (for "half-formed wish") and
> "a blushing crow" (for "a crushing blow"). The word was derived from
> the name of William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930), a distinguished
> Anglican clergyman and warden of New College, Oxford, a nervous
> man who committed many "spoonerisms." Such transpositions are
> sometimes made intentionally to produce comic effect.
I hope that no one is offended by this, and maybe this is an
urban legend (since I've never actually seen this group), but
I'm told there really is an all-female gymnastic performance
group that actually calls itself "The Cunning Stunts" and I've
heard that both versions of the name equally apply.
> Voragh
charghwI' 'utlh