The Kinquering Congs This Title Makes

July 21, 2009 1:05 PM

An albino with a pinkish face and an appearance described as "rabbit-like," Reverend Dr. William Archibald Spooner was an Oxford don and priest of the Church of England. For decades he was a respected member of the faculty at Oxford, lecturing on Christianity, philosophy, and ancient history, but he is mostly remembered for unintentionally transposing letters or syllables as he spoke (e.g., "It is kisstomary to cuss the bride" or "You have hissed all my mystery lectures"). Almost 165 years after his birth (on 22 July 1844), the details of his life are no longer common knowledge, but the nature of his mis-spoken words is remembered. A spoonerism is an error in speech or deliberate play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched. Such wordplay, intentional or otherwise, has a history beyond the good Reverend Doctor, but he is alone in his fame. Having trouble creating bitty wanter of your own? Fablebish to the rescue.
posted by filthy light thief (39 comments total)

Mardon me padam you're hitting on my sat.
posted by Cranberry at 1:09 PM on July 21

Pood gost.
posted by dersins at 1:27 PM on July 21

(hand ere I thought they were named after Spysander Looner...)
posted by lodurr at 1:27 PM on July 21

dl;tr

Also, the bird think is lorked.
posted by not_on_display at 1:28 PM on July 21 [1 favorite]

A good spoonerism is a cunning stunt indeed.
posted by gurple at 1:30 PM on July 21 [12 favorites]

Thirteen-year-old mudpuppie learned her then-favorite spoonerism from The Book of Lists. Some emcee somewhere stumbled when trying to introduce a pianst by saying "Mr. Peabody will now play for you."
posted by mudpuppie at 1:36 PM on July 21 [2 favorites]

[ROT NABBITIST!]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:39 PM on July 21

Heard on the radio once: "That last song was by the Bloody Mues"
posted by Confess, Fletch at 1:48 PM on July 21

Take a listen to Zilch the Tory steller sometime.
www.torysteller.com
posted by Narual at 1:50 PM on July 21 [1 favorite]

Better 3rd link, with more than 25 comments about "spoonerisms."
posted by filthy light thief at 1:58 PM on July 21

If spoonerisms boat your float, you might want to check out Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It. Gameplay depends on spoonerisms and bad puns.
posted by jdfan at 2:09 PM on July 21 [1 favorite]

I am not much of a rowing man; but for a good punt my keenness is enormous.
posted by Phanx at 2:18 PM on July 21 [6 favorites]

This will end we.....er, uhm...well.
posted by grateful at 2:23 PM on July 21

I have thought in spoonerisms(and other linguistic contortionism) for as long as I can remember, for fun, rut barely have they spilled from my mind to my tongue unbidden.

Please note that the m's in "my" and "mind" up there are switched, spooner-style.
posted by owtytrof at 2:29 PM on July 21

Until I was about five, I thought my grandfather's favorite sandwich was "jeanut putter and belly".

He also loved puns, the worse the pun the better he liked it.

This explains so much.
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 2:29 PM on July 21 [1 favorite]

To interrupt the wit for a second - I am gobsmacked to learn he had albinism!
(No special reason to be surprised, I suppose - I just never knew that factoid.)
posted by Jody Tresidder at 2:30 PM on July 21 [1 favorite]

Seconding "Nord and Bert" as an enjoyable and screwball Infocom game. You can see the gallery of included comics here and try your hand at the game itself (along with other Infocom classics such as Zork and, of course, Leather Goddesses of Phobos) here.
posted by Imhotep is Invisible at 2:35 PM on July 21 [1 favorite]

Geachte haren van de reet,

Ik vind het steengeil dat de hoeren van Bolland, die wonen in harige kutjes, met verkrachte eenden met gespeende lullen de bokken van de daken neuken.

Best regards,

gnfti
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 2:35 PM on July 21

Hucking fate you all. What a great post.
posted by eyeballkid at 2:35 PM on July 21

I am not much of a rowing man; but for a good punt my keenness is enormous.

Dear me. I live next to a lake, and now I shall never look at cunning men in punts in quite the same way.
posted by oneirodynia at 2:55 PM on July 21

It's "bye all" kid!
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 2:56 PM on July 21 [1 favorite]

Heed what Narual says. Zilch is harking filarious. "This is family friendly, which explains why I can't do Treasure Island. Once I get to 'fighting buccaneers,' it's all over."
posted by azpenguin at 2:58 PM on July 21

The Fablebish link has an interesting (non-obvious) behavior: if, after typing in your string to be spoonerized, you move the input cursor around inside the field, you'll get different spoonerized solutions. Some of them suck very much.
posted by Netzapper at 3:18 PM on July 21

They're even in advertising: remember the Thomas' English Muffins commercial with the girl who asks her mom about "cooks and nannies"?
posted by auralcoral at 3:29 PM on July 21

The Reverend Spooner praised me as a shining wit.
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:49 PM on July 21 [4 favorites]

I love me a good Roonerspism. I've loved this kind of thing since I was a chee wild. And bad punnery of all sort, too. But these are some of my vary favorites.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 3:51 PM on July 21

Sorts. Damn.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 3:51 PM on July 21

It seems odd to explain that you've hissed all my mystery lessons without pointing out that you have therefore tasted the whole worm.
posted by imperium at 4:25 PM on July 21 [1 favorite]

My hall of famers:

Papal Towers (Paper Towels)
Chicker Sneezecake (Snickers Cheesecake)
posted by functionequalsform at 4:56 PM on July 21

Twuv... woo twuv...
posted by Evilspork at 4:57 PM on July 21 [1 favorite]

I spart hoonerisms.
posted by Talez at 5:24 PM on July 21

My parents always joked around how the other was a smart feller when the they were annoying each other.
posted by piratebowling at 5:57 PM on July 21

One wonders, indeed, whyever Brangelina named their daughter Shiloh Pitt.
posted by darkstar at 5:57 PM on July 21 [5 favorites]

This is good but I defer malapropisms.
posted by tellurian at 6:12 PM on July 21

I remember learning about Spooner and being relieved that it wasn't must je.
posted by emjaybee at 6:23 PM on July 21

Losts pike these make me move Letafilter!

(wow, that's fun)
posted by SoFlo1 at 6:26 PM on July 21

My favorite, learned as a young'un from a Trixie Belden mystery: "odorarm deunderant."

(Mudpuppie, I too read The Book of Lists and howled over Mr. Playbody. Not a spoonerism, but my other favorite from that blooper list was the Alaskan weatherman who said he would take a leak out the window to see if it was freezing outside the studio.)
posted by dlugoczaj at 7:10 PM on July 21

As a child, my mother-in-law once heard someone in church offer up a prayer for the missionaries "who are taking the gospel to the poor farts of the earth."
posted by gamera at 9:17 PM on July 21 [1 favorite]

Personal favorite of the supposed-Archibald-originals: the Lord is a shoving leopard.
posted by WidgetAlley at 9:42 PM on July 22 [1 favorite]