spoonerism

Everyday

1. A spoonerism is a slip of the tongue where you swap the first sounds of two words, often by accident and with a funny result: «a well-boiled icicle» instead of «a well-oiled bicycle». tree →
2. It is named after William Spooner, an Oxford teacher who was said to make this mistake often. tree →

In the lessons

In English and language lessons it is a fun wordplay puzzle, often used in jokes and olympiad word games; it shows how we plan sounds before we speak. Phrases: «make a spoonerism», «a famous spoonerism».

Examples

• «Tease my ears» for «ease my tears» is a spoonerism. tree →
• Saying «fighting a liar» instead of «lighting a fire» is a spoonerism. tree →
• Our teacher made a spoonerism and said «bunny phone» for «funny bone». tree →
• Write three spoonerisms of your own. tree →
• Many famous spoonerisms were probably invented by Spooner's students. tree →
• A spoonerism swaps sounds, not letters: «chew the dores» for «do the chores». tree →

Note

Countable. Spoonerisms swap sounds, so spelling may change. Most famous examples credited to Spooner were made up by others.