Spoonerisms in songs- Examples

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: GUEST,Genie
Date: 09 Sep 01 - 05:07 AM

The Reverend Spooner also referred to his congregation once as, "ye tons of soil," instead of "sons of toil," and referred to himself as "the shoving leopard of his flock."

Genie

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: Mr Red
Date: 09 Sep 01 - 06:45 AM

as a cyclist he also liked a "well boiled icicle"
I doubt he ever sang "Martin said to his Man" but many have including the verse
I'd rather have a full bottle in front of me which can be scanned if you are persistent
and the punchline? I think you are all ahead of me - except those with a full frontal lobotomy!

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: Nigel.Parsons
Date: 09 Sep 01 - 12:13 PM

Oft claimed examples from the Rev. Spooner also include his admonition to a student..."Sir, you have tasted two worms, and will leave by the town drain" And the loyal toast "Jadies and lentil men, glaze your asses to the queer old dean"

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: GUEST,Genie
Date: 10 Sep 01 - 03:31 AM

Ah, yes, Snosrap, I remember the address of the Queen as "the queer old dean." That's the one I was trying to recall.

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: Mr Happy
Date: 03 May 04 - 08:20 AM

I've a children's tape of Jon Pertwee singing 'The Runaway Train'

In one verse he sings 'the driver got an awful fright, it scared him so he i>turned haired white!<'

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: Charley Noble
Date: 03 May 04 - 10:26 AM

Mr. Red-

Another spoonerism verse for "Martin Said to His Man" is this beauty:

I saw a butterfly flutter by,
Fie, man, fie;
I saw a butterfly flutter by,
Who's the fool now?
I saw a butterfly flutter by,
Saw a dragonfly drink a flagon dry!
I have well drunken and who's the fool now?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: GUEST
Date: 03 May 04 - 11:00 AM

As far as I can remember, it was one Sylvia Wright who invented the Mondegreen, after hearing the line in "The Bonnie Earl of Moray".

They have slain the Earl of Moray
And laid him on the green

which she thought was:

They have slain the Earl of Moray
And Lady Mondegreen

There are or were at least a couple of websites about Mondegreens; sorry I don't know the URLs, but you could try looking up "Mondegreen" on the Internet.

Strictly speaking a Spoonerism is where the first bits of adjacent or nearby words get tranposed, as in "Drink a Toast to the Dear Old Queen (Queer Old Dean)". A book I have called "The Dictionary of Common Fallacies" seems to imply that "Spoonerisms were not a recurrent feature of the speech of Reverend William Spooner" though as it gives several examples of spoonerisms, it may be tongue in cheek (or should that be Chung in Teak?). Whether true or not, I very much doubt if he was the first person in the English (or other) language to get bits of words transposed.

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: Joe_F
Date: 03 May 04 - 05:20 PM

The full text of the apocryphal scolding is: Young man, you have tasted this entire worm. You have hissed all my mystery lectures, and have been caught fighting a liar in the quad. You must leave Oxford by the town drain.

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: RWilhelm
Date: 04 May 04 - 01:23 AM

"I Get My Mirds Wixed Up"
Mic Conway's National Junk Band

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: Joe_F
Date: 04 May 04 - 04:58 PM

The Saturday Evening Post used to have a regular column of spoonerisms. I recall from my childhood one entitled "How to Slow to Geep" that ended with the desperate suggestion "a moakress eethed in satter".

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 05 May 04 - 05:31 AM

Well there's always "The whore's-bed carol" !

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: GUEST
Date: 05 May 04 - 07:58 AM

From The Downeaster Alexa:
"There's no f*ckin' swordfish in here"
(no luck in swordfishing here)

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: GUEST,Salamander '72
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 12:45 AM

Kenny Roger's "Lucille" What was "...four hungry children and a crop in the field..." sounded to me like "...four hundred children and a crop..." For many years I wondered why he didn't round up the kids and make them pick the crop.

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 03:40 AM

Not a song but a recitation - Derby Ram (Keith Kendrick) performs the story of Robin Hood, including the wedding ceremony conducted by Friar Tuck.....

Kitty

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 03:55 AM

The Bee Gees Song... 'Saved by the bell'... If you google a search for lyrics of this song you will likely come up with one that has the words "Now I walk down our great lane" which should be not OUR GREAT but HEARTBREAK ........ I have found those words on a few lyric sites so I reckon they copy them from each other.... one gets it wrong and they all do!
Best wishes, Mike.,

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: Mavis Enderby
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 04:06 AM

One of these days I know I'm going to mess up the Big Rock Candy Mountain....

Pete

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: pavane
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 05:16 AM

Likewise (mondegreen, not spoonerism) the lyrics of Carly Simon's "You're so vain" often have the phrase quoted "scarf which was Afric cut" - I am sure it should be Apricot. But the UK transcriber was probably not aware of US pronunciation. (Here we say "AYpricot" not AHpricot)

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: bubblyrat
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 05:48 AM

One of my favourite "out-takes" from the TV show "It'll Be Alright On The Night", is the BBC regional news-reader reporting on the mother who took her little daughter to play on the beach,and was later horrified to find her playing with a " Hypodeemic Nerdle".

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: Frank_Finn
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 06:39 AM

In the song The Green Fields of America there is a line

"So here's to you Bessie my one blue-eyed lassie"

I'm always afraid I will sing it as
".... my blue one-eyed lassie"

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: SINSULL
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 10:14 AM

Posted this before:
Upon first hearing the tune "Just Call Me Angel Of The Morning" I swore she sang "Just brush my teeth before you leave me, baby"

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: JohnB
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 10:42 AM

I had a freind who worked in a Travel agency, he asked this rather atractive lady one day "if she would like a fooking borm"
JohnB.

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: Bill D
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 12:12 PM

"mess up the Big Rock Candy Mountain...."

Oh, thanks a LOT! Now *I'm* thinking about it!

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: bubblyrat
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 01:47 PM

How about " Knocking on Devon's Whore " ??

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: bubblyrat
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 01:53 PM

Not to mention "Billing the Clues", " Your Heating-Chart",and the rather unsavoury "Seep on the Cunny Side" (Sorry ).

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: Gweltas
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 09:39 PM

Ha Ha, Bill D,
I agree..........I will never again be able to think of "Big Rock Candy Mountain" in the same way ever again !!

Subject: RE: Spoonerism's in songs- Examples
From: Gweltas
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 10:11 PM

The one that went down in our family folklore was when my late father was attempting to renew the electrical wiring(flex) for a light in our kitchen and found himself in need of a phillip's screwdriver, which we didn't have, so my late mother (a very prim and proper lady) dashed out to our neighbour's busy shop to ask if she could borrow the required article, which the neighbour duly produced and, being slightly curious, asked my mother why it was required --- my mother's breathless response, in the hearing of a shop full of customers, was "It's because my husband is putting sex in the feeling" (instead of "flex in the ceiling" !!) She was so profoundly embarrassed about it that she couldn't face back in there for about 6 months afterwards and obliged us kids to do all her shopping for her in the meantime.
I reckon that it runs in the family as I have frequently been guilty of getting my wucking murds fuddled, most recently when referring to the Falmouth Shanty Festival (in Cornwall) as the "Shalmouth Panty Festival" -- where I got the letter P from, when there is no P in the proper title, is a complete mystery. I am now terrified to refer to that festival as the wrong version just keeps wanting to come out and I have to think very carefully before mentioning it in polite conversation.