Hilarious mix-ups
LILLY JACOB
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When you hear someone say "we caked a bake", what do you say?
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SPOONER: Confusing manner of speech.
Some people have immortalised themselves through their idiosyncrasies. like Mrs. Malaprop in Sheridan's play "The Rivals" (1775) and the Rev. William A. Spooner .
If someone tells you "we have caked a bake" instead of "we have baked a cake" what do you call it? It is nothing but "Spoonerism". A professional politician shouted in his usual style from the platform: "Effluent people live in palatial mansions at the expense of the working class." He did not know he was using a wrong word instead of "affluent". This is malapropism. Another example: A boss declared: "I don't want that trouble-shooter in my office". He did not realise that any boss will be happy to have a trouble-shooter among his staff. He thought trouble-shooter means troublemaker.
The origin of "Spoonerism" can be traced to the Rev. William Archibald Spooner who lived in England from 1844 to 1930. He was a scholar and was closely associated with Oxford University for about six decades. Unwittingly he used to muddle up the words, like, "sons of toil" instead of "tons of soil".
Being a presbyter, he had to conduct many wedding and funeral services. One day after conducting a wedding he turned to the bridegroom and said: "It is kisstomary to cass the bride!" What he wanted to say was: "It is customary to kiss the bride!" Such instances were common.
He declared once, "Work is the curse of the drinking class" instead of "Drink is the curse of the working class".
Once when he visited the Dean of Christ Church, London, he asked the Dean's secretary: "Is the bean dissy?"
Knowing Rev. Spooner well, the secretary was quick to understand that the question was "is the Dean busy?"
Funerals are a part of the life of any clergyman. Once speaking in a funeral ceremony of a presbyter, one of his close friends, he said: "he was a shoving leopard to his flock" instead of "he was a loving shepherd to his flock".
Many are the sayings of the late Rev. Spooner. And the Rev. Spooner outlives time through his spoonerisms. But he still lives in our minds as William Archibald Spooner or is it William Spoorchibald Arner?
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