Spoonerisms

A spoonerism is a slip of the tongue in which the opening sounds of two words are swapped, often with comic results — 'a blushing crow' instead of 'a crushing blow'. They are named after the Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844–1930), an Oxford don famous for making them.

This guide collects classic and playful spoonerisms, each shown beside the phrase that was actually intended. Read them aloud — half the fun is hearing how one small swap turns a sensible phrase into something gloriously silly.