Spoonerism

Pronunciation

• enPR: spoÍžonʹərÄ­zÉ™m, IPA: /ˈspuːnəɹɪzÉ™m/

Origin

Named after the William Archibald Spooner (1844–1930), who is supposed to have habitually made such slip-ups.

Noun

1. A play on words on a phrase in which the initial (usually consonantal) sounds of two or more of the main words are transposed.The spoonerism "The queer old dean" (instead of "the dear old Queen") is attributed to Rev. Spooner.