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Meaning of "spoonerism" in the English dictionary

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DICTIONARY
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ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD SPOONERISM

Named after W. A. Spooner (1844–1930), English clergyman renowned for slips of this kind.
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Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.
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PRONUNCIATION OF SPOONERISM

spoonerism  [ˈspuːnəˌrɪzəm] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF SPOONERISM

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Spoonerism is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES SPOONERISM MEAN IN ENGLISH?

spoonerism

Spoonerism

A spoonerism is an error in speech or deliberate play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched between two words in a phrase. For example saying "The Lord is a shoving leopard" instead of "The Lord is a loving shepherd". While spoonerisms are commonly heard as slips of the tongue resulting from unintentionally getting one's words in a tangle, they can also be used intentionally as a play on words.

Definition of spoonerism in the English dictionary

The definition of spoonerism in the dictionary is the transposition of the initial consonants or consonant clusters of a pair of words, often resulting in an amusing ambiguity of meaning, such as hush my brat for brush my hat.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH SPOONERISM


adventurism
ədˈvɛntʃəˌrɪzəm
aneurysm
ˈænjəˌrɪzəm
aphorism
ˈæfəˌrɪzəm
asterism
ˈæstəˌrɪzəm
barbarism
ˈbɑːbəˌrɪzəm
consumerism
kənˈsjuːməˌrɪzəm
counterterrorism
ˌkaʊntəˈtɛrəˌrɪzəm
esoterism
ɛˈsɒtəˌrɪzəm
futurism
ˈfjuːtʃəˌrɪzəm
hypopituitarism
ˌhaɪpəpɪˈtjuːɪtəˌrɪzəm
isomerism
aɪˈsɒməˌrɪzəm
mannerism
ˈmænəˌrɪzəm
mesmerism
ˈmɛzməˌrɪzəm
militarism
ˈmɪlɪtəˌrɪzəm
naturism
ˈneɪtʃəˌrɪzəm
plagiarism
ˈpleɪdʒəˌrɪzəm
secularism
ˈsɛkjʊləˌrɪzəm
terrorism
ˈtɛrəˌrɪzəm
Thatcherism
ˈθætʃəˌrɪzəm
voluntarism
ˈvɒləntəˌrɪzəm

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE SPOONERISM

spooky
spool
spooler
spoom
spoon
spoon-fed
spoon-feed
spoonbait
spoonbill
spoondrift
spooney
spoonful
spoonier
spoonies
spooniest
spoonily
spoonways
spoony
spoor
spoorer

WORDS THAT END LIKE SPOONERISM

allomerism
boosterism
careerism
chimerism
eumerism
gangsterism
hetaerism
hipsterism
Hitlerism
Junkerism
keto-enol tautomerism
metamerism
panderism
pauperism
phalansterism
Quakerism
ranterism
stereoisomerism
tautomerism
tourism
volunteerism

Synonyms and antonyms of spoonerism in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «spoonerism» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF SPOONERISM

Find out the translation of spoonerism to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of spoonerism from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «spoonerism» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

spoonerism
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

spoonerism
570 millions of speakers

English

spoonerism
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

spoonerism
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

رتة
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

spoonerism
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

spoonerism
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

spoonerism
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

contrepèterie
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Spoonerism
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Verballhornung
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

spoonerism
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

spoonerism
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Spoonerism
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

spoonerism
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

சொற்களின் முதல் ஒலிகளை தவறுதலாக மாற்றி உச்சரிக்கும் தவறு
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

स्पूनरिजम
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

spoonerism
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

metatesi
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

spoonerism
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

spoonerism
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

spoonerism
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

παραδρομή
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

spoonerism
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

Spoonerism
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

spoonerism
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of spoonerism

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «SPOONERISM»

The term «spoonerism» is normally little used and occupies the 126.581 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Little used
41
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «spoonerism» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of spoonerism
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «spoonerism».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «SPOONERISM» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «spoonerism» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «spoonerism» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about spoonerism

EXAMPLES

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «SPOONERISM»

Discover the use of spoonerism in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to spoonerism and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Traductio: Essays on Punning and Translation
The (un)translatability of a spoonerism The rules which generate instances of spoonerism or contrepeterie - even of Schuttelreim — draw on a series of linguistic traits which seem universal: the notions of a sound, initial vs. terminal positions, ...
Dirk Delabastita, 1997
2
How to Sound Clever: Master the 600 English Words You ...
spoonerism. splenetic derives from the Latin word splen, which means 'spleen'. This is because the ancient Greeks believed that the spleen – which is an organ involved in the creation and removal of blood cells – produced black bile which ...
Hubert van den Bergh, 2010
3
Introducing Psycholinguistics
(5.5) hide shame What the experimenters found was that participants, under otherwise identical conditions, would produce a spoonerism 20% of the time when the key condition was like that in (5.4), but only 6% of the time when it was as in ...
Paul Warren, 2012
4
Figures of Speech, Including: Euphemism, Metaphor, ...
This particular book is a collaboration focused on Figures of speech.More info: Figures of Speech is a hip hop group consisting of MCs Eve and Jyant.
Hephaestus Books, 2011
5
Why is Q Always Followed by U?: Word-Perfect Answers to the ...
Q. I've been told that the man who gave rise to the term Spoonerism never actually said one. Can this possibly be true? A. There is indeed much evidence to suggest that William Archibald Spooner rarely if ever uttered a Spoonerism, though ...
Michael Quinion, 2009
6
Culture in Oxford: Spoonerism, Inklings, Sheldonian Theatre, ...
Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.
General Books LLC, Source Wikipedia, Books, LLC, 2010
7
The Ultimate Everything Kids' Gross Out Book: Nasty and ...
A spoonerism is when the letters or syllables in words or phrases get flip-flopped and form a silly phrase. For example, “This is the pun fart” is a spoonerism for “ This is the fun part.” The word “spoonerism” is named after William Archibald ...
Beth L. Blair, Jennifer Ericsson, 2008
8
Sounds Good on Paper: How to Bring Business Language to Life
A spoonerism is a play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes (bits of words) are moved around Definition Spoonersim: The involuntary transposition ofsoundsintwo for comic effect, usually by mistake.
Roger Horberry, 2010
9
Laughter: The Secret of Good Health
The word spoonerism originates from the name of Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844- 1930), an Anglican priest and scholar. He had a tendency for ' tips of the slung' (slips of the tongue!), which could have been a natural upshot of his ...
S.P. Sharma, 2002
10
Lectures on Shakespeare
A spoonerism depends upon a violation of a second law of language, which states that whether words make sense or nonsense depends on whether the speaker uses them correctly or incorrectly. An example of a spoonerism: a professor ...
Wystan Hugh Auden, Arthur C. Kirsch, 2002

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «SPOONERISM»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term spoonerism is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Not Much Magic in 'Mike'; 'Minions' Works as Prequel and Marketing …
Such gaffes are, in fact, called “spoonerisms” in his honor. According to the Calendar of Forgotten English, some of his most famous occurred when he preached ... «The SandPaper, Jul 15»
2
Bill Turnbull says the c-word live on BBC Breakfast
Naughtie later apologised for his "Spoonerism" - in reference to Dr William Spooner who notoriously switched letters between words inappropriately. He said: ... «Telegraph.co.uk, Jul 15»
3
James Naughtie to quit Today programme: Calling Jeremy Hunt a 'c …
The presenter later issued several apologies for his "Spoonerism" - a reference to Dr William Spooner who was notorious for inappropriately switching letters ... «The Independent, Jul 15»
4
Azed slip No 2239
Several admitted that they hadn't worked out all the Spoonerisms, but the overall message was that it was an enjoyable struggle, some even nominating this ... «The Guardian, Jun 15»
5
Spoonerism leads Indianapolis news anchor to drop f-word live on air
Indianapolis Fox 59 Morning News anchor Ray Cortopassi was undone by a “spoonerism” when he was following up a preview read by his co-host Angela ... «9news.com.au, May 15»
6
Blatchley crowns a spelling bee champion
Minuscule. Hydroponic. Spoonerism. These and over 100 other words of escalating difficulty were posed before participants at the 2015 Blatchley Middle School ... «KCAW, Jan 15»
7
Com Truise talks '80s inspiration, outboard, Reason and remixing
It's a fitting image for New Yorker Seth Haley, who's worked under the spoonerism since he began releasing music in 2010. The "mid-fi synth-wave slow motion ... «MusicRadar.com, Jan 15»
8
Ricci: Yogi Berra, mondegreens and more language mishaps
Another fluke in our language is a spoonerism, such as “flutterby" for "butterfly." A spoonerism is an error in speech or a deliberate play-on-words in which ... «Auburn Citizen, Nov 14»
9
Classic Spoonerism hands Brentford victory at Bolton
It's one of the most iconic and oft-quoted pieces of Brentford commentary from modern times – and the words weren't even uttered by a Brentford commentator. «getwestlondon, Oct 14»
10
The cognitive origins of Michelle Obama's “Bruce Braley” gaffe
It turns out that these kinds of slips of the tongues, or "spoonerisms," as they're called, are surprisingly common, and reveal a lot about how our brains organize ... «Washington Post, Oct 14»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Spoonerism [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/spoonerism>. Apr 2024 ».
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