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Spoonerisms in English Language

21st June 2019 CHALLA 105 Comments

What is spoonerism?

 

Spoonerisms in the English Language have been explained here.  A spoonerism is the transposition of the initial sounds of two or more words, as in sons of toil in place of tons of soil.

It happens because of the slip of the tongue and a very common phenomenon in our everyday speech. The term spoonerism is derived from the name of the Reverend Dr. William A. Spooner, Dean and Warden of New College, Oxford.

Spoonerisms in English Language

Here are a few Spoonerisms in the English Language:

 

Correct Version                               

Spoonerism

Belly jeans Jelly beans
Eyeball Bye all
Fight in your race Right in your face
Ready as a stock Steady as a rock
No tails Toe nails
Bowl of salad Soul of ballad
Flat battery Bat flattery
Lighting a fire Fighting a liar
To bridge the gap To gap the bridge
Food in her mouth Mouth in her food
Let the cat out of the bag Let the bag out of the cat
A well-oiled bicycle A well-boiled icicle
A crushing blow A blushing crow
Our dear old queen Our queer old dean
It is customary to kiss the bride  It is kisstomary to cuss the bride
Whore’s bed Boar’s head
Rough time Tough rhyme
Show you to a seat Sew you to a sheet
A half-warmed fish A half-formed wish
Our shoving leopard Our loving shepherd
Is the dean busy? Is the bean dizzy?
You have missed my history lecture. You have hissed my mystery lecture.
May I show you to another seat? May I sew you to another sheet?
I must mend the sail I must send the mail
You have wasted a whole term. You will leave Oxford on the next down train. You have tasted a whole worm. You will leave Oxford on the next town drain

 

Related reads:

How to read long words in English

Idioms in English

The Reduplicatives in English

One word substitutions in English

Wedding Anniversaries

Mania Words in English

List of Common Phobias in English

Binomials in English

Blend words in English

Figures of Speech in English

Palindromes in the English Language

Pangrams in the English Language

Vowel Words in English

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