I knew that spoonerisms were named for William Spooner, Dean and Warden of New College in Oxford in the 1800s, who was a contemporary and acquaintance of Charles Lutwidge Dodson However, I had not run across this particular example before, no doubt due to a deficiency in my reading.
Reverend William Spooner |
I looked at this odd phrase for a moment or two as I was browsing a biography of Dodson aka Lewis 'Carroll,before "translating" it. I laughed on and off for about half an hour. Half-formed wish, my dear Watson!
There are many other amusing quotes and anecdotes about dear Reverend Spooner, who evidently initially resented his inadvertent fame for verbal flubs, but later in life had a mellower outlook on the matter. I once uttered a Spoonerism completely unintentionally. It could have been viewed as a culinary critique of the restaurant whose name I inadvertently mangled. "Let's go to the Crusty Supper," I suggested years ago. The seafood restaurant's name was Rusty Scupper. I wonder if they had "half-warmed fish" on their menu.
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The biography of Lewis Carroll I was reading (with much enjoyment) is titled, appropriately enough, Lewis Carroll, and is by Donald Thomas, published in 1999 in trade paperback by Barnes & Noble.
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