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Spoonerisms

Spoonerisms are words or phrases in which letters or syllables get swapped. This often happens accidentally in slips of the tongue (or tips of the slung as Spoonerisms are often affectionately called!):

Tease my ears (Ease my tears)
A lack of pies (A pack of lies)
It's roaring with pain (It's pouring with rain)
Wave the sails (Save the whales)
More Spoonerisms

The end is listless! Can you figure these next ones out? Answers here!

Chipping the flannel
At the lead of spite
Hiss and lear
Go and shake a tower
Answers and more...
Rude Spoonerisms (not for children or the easily offended)

Send us your favourite spoonerisms. Check we don't already have them in our list of great spoonerisms first!

The word spoonerism comes from William Archibald Spooner who was famous for making these verbal slips. Find out more about Spooner.

Why not visit our bookstore pages to find all the best recommended books on wordplay, including spoonerism books?

Your Favourite Spoonerisms

Here is a selection of the funniest Spoonerisms sent in to us by our visitors:

Cat flap (Flat cap)
Bad salad (Sad ballad)
Soap in your hole (Hope in your soul)
Mean as custard (Keen as mustard)
Plaster man (Master plan)
Pleating and humming (Heating and plumbing)
Trim your snow tail (Trim your toe nails)
Birthington's washday (Washington's Birthday)
Trail snacks (Snail tracks)
Bottle in front of me (Frontal Lobotomy)
Sale of two titties (Tale of two cities)
Rental Deceptionist (Dental Receptionist)
Flock of bats (Block of flats)
Chewing the doors (Doing the chores)

Explore Spoonerisms

A large section of Fun-with-words.com is devoted to Spoonerisms, so take a look around. Read more about Spoonerisms and the history of Spoonerisms. Learn about Rev. W. A. Spooner and why his name has become immortalised in the Spoonerism. We have reviews of great spoonerism books which you can even buy online through our Amazon Books partner. You will also enjoy these spoonerized fairytales, delightful mixed-up versions of popular stories:

Prinderella and the Cince (Cinderella and the Prince)
Beeping Sleauty (Sleeping Beauty)
The Pea Little Thrigs (The Three Little Pigs)
Goldybear and the Three Locks (Goldilocks and the Three Bears)
Ali Theeva and the Forty Babs (Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves)

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