SPOONERISM

A spoonerism is the transfer of the first letter or sound of two words...sometimes inadvertently and sometimes for effect. The word came into usage because of the Reverend William Archibald Spooner (early 20th century) who was prone to do it inadvertently. He was a professor and later the head of New College in Oxford, England. One of his most famous went like this when he wanted to commend Queen Victoria. He said, "Three cheers for the queer old dean."

Comedians often use spoonerisms when they are pretending to be drunk. It can be quite humorous.

Here is an example from my life. I was the emcee of a youth football banquet years ago and, to start it off, the president of the organization introduced me as Lat Pysaght. Oooops! Some people just can't help it when they are nervous.

Now here is one of my favorites you can have fun with. "What do you call a bridge on which there is a traffic jam?" answer "The car strangled spanner."

:-)