Spoonerism (noun)

A phrase in which the initial sounds or letters of two or more words are transposed to create a new phrase, often with humorous effect, as in "Three cheers for our queer old dean!" for "Three cheers for our dear old queen!".

Origin:

Named after the reverend william archibald spooner, an 19th-century anglican clergyman known for his habit of reversing the initial sounds or letters of words in a phrase. .

Examples:

  1. He always had a knack for coming up with clever spoonerisms.
  2. The spoonerism "You have hissed all my mystery lectures and were caught fighting a liar in the quad" is a quote from the reverend William Spooner himself.
  3. I think "toning of the soul" is a better spoonerism for "soul of the nation".
  4. The phrase "A well-boiled icicle" is a classic spoonerism.
  5. Spoonerism can be seen as a playful way of language manipulation.
Some random words: bipedal, gridlock, scandinavian