[f. the name of the Rev. W. A. Spooner (18441930).] An accidental transposition of the initial sounds, or other parts, of two or more words.
Known in colloquial use in Oxford from about 1885.
1891. Yorkshire Herald, 8 Sept., 6/1. Catholics prize their nuns and hold them dear as the apple of their eye in spite of the decrepit spoonerism of the Times, aye.
1894. Punch, 7 April, 166/3.
The proofs were there; they could be seen; | |
It drove me nigh to pessimism, | |
This fruit of lawless rites between | |
A Malaprop and Spoonerism! |
1895. Leeds Mercury, 25 May, 7/2. Most of the Spoonerisms have been manufactured for, and fathered upon, their reputed author, by clever undergrads.
1900. Globe, 5 Feb. To one unacquainted with technical terms it sounds as if the speaker were guilty of a spoonerism.