Lecture 28: Specialty Words for Language

Specialty Words for Language

Lecture 28

O

ver the years, linguists and language scholars have organized and

categorized words in a number of different ways. In this lecture,

we’ll discuss many of these linguistic categories or specialty words,

such as blended words, clipped words, spoonerisms, and more.

Spoonerism (noun)

The transposition of the (usually) initial sounds of two or more words,

often creating a humorous effect.

z Spoonerisms are often slips of the tongue, or speech errors, but are

sometimes made intentionally for comedy’s sake. For example,

one might mistakenly say, “Go and shake a tower” instead of the

intended “Go and take a shower” or “a well-boiled icicle” instead

of “a well-oiled bicycle.”

z These two examples were actually attributed to the man spoonerism

was named for, the Reverend William Archibald Spooner. He was

an Anglican clergyman and warden of New College Oxford in the

late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was a well-respected, kindly

man but is known in history for his humorous slips of the tongue.

z Although Spooner undoubtedly had a tendency toward muddled

speech, many spoonerisms attributed to him are apocryphal.

Legitimately or not, here are some other well-known spoonerisms

attributed to Spooner himself:

ż “The Lord is a shoving leopard” instead of “The Lord is a

loving shepherd.”

ż “It is kisstomary to cuss the bride” instead of “It is customary

to kiss the bride.”