Spoonerisms

A spoonerism is a play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched, named after the Reverend William Archibald Spooner, Warden of New College, Oxford, who was notoriously prone to this tendency. Many "spoonerisms" attributed to Spooner are believed to have actually been made up by Oxford students.

Quotes

 * Let us drink to the queer old Dean.
 * As quoted in
 * A play on "dear old Queen".
 * You have deliberately tasted two worms and you can leave Oxford by the town drain.
 * [Alternatively] Sir, you have tasted two whole worms; you have hissed all my mystery lectures and been caught fighting a liar in the quad; you will leave Oxford by the next town drain.
 * As quoted in, also as quoted in
 * A play on "wasted two whole terms", "missed all my history lectures", "lighting a fire" and "down train".
 * The Lord is a shoving leopard.
 * As quoted in
 * A play on "loving shepherd".
 * Ladies and Gentlemen, President Hoobert Heever.
 * Attributed to radio announcer Harry von Zell, as quoted in
 * A play on US President Herbert Hoover
 * Runny be quimble, Runny be nick, Runny cump over the jandlestick.
 * Excerpt from the poem, Runny's Jig Bump, from "Runny Babbit" by Shel Silverstein, as quoted in
 * A play on the nursery rhyme Jack Be Nimble
 * Don’t sweat the petty things and don’t pet the sweaty things.
 * Attributed to comedian George Carlin, as quoted in
 * Leaves no tone unsterned.
 * Attributed to violinist Isaac Stern, as quoted in
 * A play on "Leave no stone unturned".
 * I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.
 * Attributed to writer Dorothy Parker, as quoted in
 * Time wounds all heels.
 * Attributed to comedian Groucho Marx, as quoted in
 * A play on "Time heals all wounds".


 * Names can be spoonerisms also, like Willie Nelson (Nellie Wilson) and Bobby Hall (hobby ball).