Malapropisms, mondegreens, eggcorns, spoonerisms and others!

[southendmd]

[southendmd]

Spoonerism

The other kind of error is the spoonerism--an  unintentional transposition of sounds.

From Mirriam-Webster:  "The name comes from a British clergyman and educator named William Archibald Spooner. And apparently, he just naturally came up with spoonerisms very, very frequently, and it seems, was constantly speaking to audiences. And so there are all these anecdotes about him just saying absolutely ludicrous things. There was a time when he was giving a speech and Queen Victoria was in the audience and he said, apparently, 'I have in my bosom a half-warmed fish,' when he actually intended, 'I have in my bosom a half-formed wish.'"

My favorite from recent talk radio:  that famous write-in candidate "Maxine Vandate".  Think about it...

Some others:

"Three cheers for our queer old dean!" (while giving a toast at a dinner, which Queen Victoria was also attending)
"Is it kisstomary to cuss the bride?" (as opposed to "customary to kiss")
"The Lord is a shoving leopard." (instead of "a loving shepherd")
"A blushing crow." ("crushing blow")
"A well-boiled icicle" ("well-oiled bicycle")

[Sason]

She's probably on her way to the bathroom on the right. ...

 

[Front-Ranger]

What a delightful topic! Thank you, friend! 

[Sason]

A reverse mondegreen is the intentional production, in speech or writing, of words or phrases that seem to be gibberish but disguise meaning. A prominent example is Mairzy Doats, a 1943 novelty song by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman, and Jerry Livingston. The lyrics are a reverse mondegreen, made up of same-sounding words or phrases (sometimes also referred to as "oronyms"), so pronounced (and written) as to challenge the listener (or reader) to interpret them:

Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?
The clue to the meaning is contained in the bridge of the song:

If the words sound queer and funny to your ear, a little bit jumbled and jivey,
Sing "Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy."
This makes it clear that the last line is "A kid'll eat ivy, too; wouldn't you?"

That's what the father of Laura Palmer (don't remember his name) sings in Twin Peaks.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Spoonerism

The other kind of error is the spoonerism--an  unintentional transposition of sounds.

From Mirriam-Webster:  "The name comes from a British clergyman and educator named William Archibald Spooner. And apparently, he just naturally came up with spoonerisms very, very frequently, and it seems, was constantly speaking to audiences. And so there are all these anecdotes about him just saying absolutely ludicrous things. There was a time when he was giving a speech and Queen Victoria was in the audience and he said, apparently, 'I have in my bosom a half-warmed fish,' when he actually intended, 'I have in my bosom a half-formed wish.'"

My favorite from recent talk radio:  that famous write-in candidate "Maxine Vandate".  Think about it...

Some others:

"Three cheers for our queer old dean!" (while giving a toast at a dinner, which Queen Victoria was also attending)
"Is it kisstomary to cuss the bride?" (as opposed to "customary to kiss")
"The Lord is a shoving leopard." (instead of "a loving shepherd")
"A blushing crow." ("crushing blow")
"A well-boiled icicle" ("well-oiled bicycle")

I've read this one is apparently from Dr. Spooner himself:

"Mardon me, padam, this pie is occupewed. May I sew you to a sheet?"

[Jeff Wrangler]

It was an honor killing. Lord Mondegreen discovered that his wife, Lady Mondegreen,  was having an affair with the earl of Moray, so he slew them both.

[Sason]

I don't under what category this fits, but here goes:

My parents were huge jazz fans, and during my childhood I often heard the big jazz names like Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday and.......Ellafitz Gerald 

[Jeff Wrangler]

I don't under what category this fits, but here goes:

My parents were huge jazz fans, and during my childhood I often heard the big jazz names like Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday and.......Ellafitz Gerald 

 

[Jeff Wrangler]

Here's another one that I'm sure I'm mishearing.

I should mention that I'm hearing this on our Eighties radio station, so the song could be, like, 40 years old, more or less. Plus, as DJs are wont to play songs without giving the title of the song or the name of the band, it's possible I never knew either.

So hear we go.

"Twenty twenty twenty-four hours ago, I want to be delicious."

(When was the last time you saw wont used in a sentence?  )