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You may be forgiven for missing this important moment, because I almost missed it, but yesterday, July 22, it was Oxford University Hall and the appointed priest William Archibald Spooner (William Archibald Spooner). ) On the 177th anniversary of his birth, he unknowingly named his name as the most pleasant English language error, which was called Spoonerisms for a century and a quarter.
Pastor Spooner is known for being absent-minded and tends to inadvertently convert vowels or consonants in two words into words that are close together in an abstract way. Therefore, the pastor intends to say that “the wage rate will be weighed on the employer”, and declared in the speech that “the weight of anger will weigh on the employer.” As a missionary, he referred to “conquer the king” (a phrase in a famous hymn) as “King Kong”. In fact, these two examples are the only examples that have been confirmed to be what he said, but he changed the reputation of the beginning of the word, and was notorious for the naughty Oxford undergraduates who participated in his lectures and sermons, which gave birth to the entire cottage industry. deceive.
Far from being abstract, the professor did not intend to confuse, these were created deliberately for the purpose of humor. The most famous, because it is both reasonable and funny, is to toast to Queen Victoria, Pastor Spooner-instead of raising the glass and saying “to our dear old queen!”-inviting the people present “to this weird one!” Cheers to the old dean!”
Another example is that this religious person misses “Jehovah is a loving shepherd” instead of saying “Jehovah is a tiger.” I want to ask a couple at a wedding whether they are “used to kissing” the bride. Spooner should say, “Is cursing the bride a kissing scene?” In these stories, Spooner describes the “shattering blow” as a “blushing crow” “The oiled bicycle is called a “cooked icicle”, and the “comfortable little corner” is described as a “nosy little chef.”
However, in fact, most of the famous Spoonerism is fabricated and cannot be convincingly attributed to him. The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (3rd edition, 1979) lists only the “weight of anger” as a valid Spoonerism. Most of us inadvertently said Spoonerism at some point—an error caused by rush, carelessness, or fatigue. Only his is a classic.
The Oxford provenance of most of the Spoonerisms of these inventions is evident in their content. Therefore, the pastor wanted to know “Is the dean busy?” and asked “Do you feel dizzy?” He wanted to accuse an undergraduate student of starting a fire in the courtyard. He said, “You are fighting a liar in the courtyard.” Go to church and see him. The usual place on the bench was occupied. He complained to the receptionist: “Someone has taken my pie. Please sew me onto another piece of paper.” This dismissed a wrong undergraduate from him: “You booed all my mystery lectures. You have tasted the whole worm. Please leave Oxford in the next town gutter.” (“You missed All my history lessons. You wasted a semester. Please leave Oxford on the next train.”)
The appeal of Spoonerism is that it is a rich source of humor, even if it has nothing to do with Oxford University or the quirky old dean himself. For example: “I would rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.” Describing a bad “grilled cheese” sandwich as a “frozen fat sandwich” is very accurate. Capitol Steps, a political comedy sketch group in Washington, DC, referred to President Reagan as a “resident infidel” and described the US election as “licking their leader” (selecting their leader).
The Internet, an indispensable source of research materials, told me that Brian P. Cleary described in his poem “Translation” a boy who speaks in Spoonism (such as “shaking a tower” instead of “bathing”). To put it humorously, Cleary leaves the last blow of the poem to the reader, saying:
“He once declared,’Hey, belly jeans’/when he found a pile of gummies./But when he said he was’simmered’/we would tell him he should shine shoes.”
wknd@khaleejtimes.com
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