A spoonerism is an occurrence in speech in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched (see metathesis) between two words in a phrase.[1][a] These are named after the Oxford don and ordained minister William Archibald Spooner, who reputedly did this.
An example of spoonerism on a protest placard in London, England: “Buck Frexit” instead of “Fuck Brexit”.
They were already renowned by the author François Rabelais in the 16th century, and called contrepèteries.[2] In his novel Pantagruel, he wrote "femme folle à la messe et femme molle à la fesse" ("insane woman at mass, woman with flabby buttocks"). [3]
An example is saying "The Lord is a shoving leopard" instead of "The Lord is a loving shepherd" or "runny babbit" instead of "bunny rabbit." While spoonerisms are commonly heard as slips of the tongue, they can also be used intentionally as a play on words.
