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spooner

spooner

1 9.3
A person who swaps the first sounds of words by mistake when speaking
  • noun
  • /ˈspuːnər/
: confusor

Examples

  • Ladies, the spooner wait is over.

  • All right, spooner, just relax.

  • Better yet, learn to be a better spooner and turn the heat off entirely; save both of you some cash.

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  • And spooner wasn't lying.

  • He accidentally became a famous spooner when he swapped the sounds in his speech during the live show.

  • Everyone laughed when the comedian became a spooner and turned his simple phrases into a hilarious mess.

  • As a spooner, he often left his friends in stitches with his funny word swaps during conversations.

Surface Forms

spooner singular
spooners plural

Etymology

Spooner comes from the name of a teacher named Spooner at Oxford who was famous for accidentally switching the first sounds of words. So a spooner is someone who makes these funny swaps, like saying 'right lane' instead of 'light rain'.