Welcome to the Wondrous Words Wednesday meme. My entry this week made me giggle: spoonerism. Ever heard of it? Read on to learn something new and visit Kathy at Bermuda Onion to find more nerdy words.
My 11-year-old son is preparing for the fifth grade spelling bee. Whew! You should see some of the words on his list. Doozies like hirsute, souchong, and obstreperous give him (and me) a tough time. I need my Merriam-Webster app handy to look up definitions and pronunciation.
We got a kick out of this word from column four (getting to the hard stuff) on his study list:
spoonerism \’spü-nǝ-riz-ǝm\ noun, associated with William A. Spooner, English clergyman and educator at the turn of the 20th century
A transposition of (usually) the initial sounds of two or more words. For example, tons of soil for sons of toil.
I’m sure, in my mommy induced fatigue, that I’ve done this. Please call Rosh and Josie downstairs for dinner. She left her poggles at the gool. Who knew there was actually a name for this phenomenon?
Word Nerd Workout
Can you think of a funny spoonerism you’ve spoken or heard? How can you share this cool new term with your friends and family?
Word Nerd Digression
Do you remember spelling bees? My son is getting nervous about his, and although I’m proud he’s preparing so well, I remind him that we’ll still love him no matter how he does. Half the battle of a spelling bee is getting over the anxiety.
In fourth grade, I beat Palmer Johnson, the perennial grade champion, to advance to the school wide bee. It was held at night, probably during a PTA meeting. The lights burned my eyes as I stood behind the microphone on the auditorium/ cafeteria stage. I had to spell “different” in round two. Not hard, right?
My voice echoed in the auditorium as I spelled, “D-I-R-R.” The bell (of defeat) rang, and I slumped backstage where the principal consoled me with a spicy root beer hard candy shaped like a barrel.
I’ve never liked root beer. Or performing onstage. Which is why I express my creativity through writing. 🙂
Do you have a spelling bee story?
Thanks for getting nerdy with me!
Julia
I remember about learning spoonerisms in school before. I also had stage fright during a spelling bee (a preliminary round). I was doing well until I realized that there were only a few people left that I had to compete against and then I totally froze up.
The first thing that popped into my head was “mell of a hess!” lol Who knew there’s a word for that?
I knew the term spoonerisms, I think is was my mom who introduced me to the term. Probably because I say them so frequently. And right now I can’t think of a single example.
And no spelling bee stories from me. But for some reason I still have a terrible time spelling “prairie”. I have horrible stage fright, so no bees for me.
What a lovely post, Julia. I see there is more than one word nerd in your family. I love spelling bees, but I know they are stressful for the kids. I love your personal story. It’s a good generational link with your son. I’m going for have to think about the spoonerisms. Nothing comes to mind right now, but I know they have popped out of my mouth.
This is great! And boy am I guilty of it every single day as I call my children all sorts of funny spoonerisms! My son is going to the state spelling bee next month! I have a feeling we don’t take it as seriously as we should (?) as the last time we were there small children were carrying binders and flash cards filled with words…I’m just glad he’s going and hope it’s a good experience!
No binders or flash cards here either, although we are practicing. Congrats to N and good luck! Glad to hear I’m not the only one calling her kids strange names.
I have heard of Spoonerisms. I had an activity book of word games that I used for 20 years in the classroom. There was one page of funny Spoonerisms, and then a twisted fairy tale — Cinderella, I believe — that was full of Spoonerisms the students had to untangle. It was fun!
That sounds like my kind of fun, Dianne. What’s the name of that book?
Ah, Reverend Spooner! Love these.
You know, I actually said one the other day, quite intentionally, and it made my six year old daughter laugh out loud. And she understood why it was funny. But do you think I can remember it? Negative. I think I do it when I’m tired…
My great spelling bee story is the one where I lost the all-school spelling bee because I spelled recipe incorrectly. I said “r-e-c-i-p-i-e” and down I went, the reigning champion from the previous year. Never forgot how to spell that one, I can tell you!
LOL, Lisa, sorry you can’t remember. I definitely think fatigue plays a role, so of course we can expect memory loss to pair with it. Love your spelling bee story.