Lingo-ist-ics

Spoonerisms

Spoonerisms are phonetic transpositions in words, sentences and phrases. They usually occur accidentally when speaking quickly but are often used purposely as a play on words:

Flutter by / Butterfly and the often cited 'I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy' are two well-known examples.

Malapropisms

A malapropism arises when a word is replaced by another very similar sounding word but by one which has a totally different meaning.

He's a wolf in cheap clothing. / He's a wolf in sheep's clothing

Celebrities, politicians, TV presenters and sports stars are seldom allowed to live down their linguistic blunders.

The word malapropism comes from a fictitious character, Mrs. Malaprop, in The Rivals, a play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

The New Scientist reported what might have been the first known malapropism for "malapropism" when it was reported to them that someone had described another colleague as "a vast suppository of information". When he became aware of his error, he apologised for having committed a "Miss Marple-ism".

Mondegreens

A mondegreen is an example of what happens when instead of saying the wrong word, you hear the wrong word. Misheard song lyrics are a common case.

• All my luggage, I will send to you. Actual lyric: All my loving, I will send to you (Beatles)
• Are you going to starve an old friend? Actual lyric: Are you going to Scarborough Fair? (Simon & Garfunkel)
• Every time you go away you take a piece of meat with you. Actual lyric: Every time you go away you take a piece of me with you.(Paul Young)
• Give me the Beach Boys and free my soul. Actual lyric: Give me the beat, boys, and free my soul. (Dobie Gray "Drift Away")
• Got a lot of lucky peanuts. Actual lyric: Got a lot of love between us. (Frankie Vallee and the Four Seasons)
• Hope the city voted for you. Actual lyric: Hopelessly devoted to you. (Grease soundtrack)
• I can't climb this ceiling any more. Actual lyric: I can't fight this feeling anymore. (REO Speedwagon)
• I shot the Sheriff, but I didn't shoot him dead you see. Actual lyric: I shot the Sheriff, but I didn't shoot the deputy.(Eric Clapton)
• Last night I dreamt of some bagels. Actual lyric: Last night I dreamt of San Pedro. (Madonna)
• The ants are my friends, they're blowing in the wind. Actual lyric: The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind. (Bob Dylan)

Word play

Luis d'Antin Van Rooten wrote an book called Mots d'Heures: Gousses, Rames which when read out loud is pronounced (with a French accent) as Mother Goose Rhymes.

Here is a perfect example of his ingenious play on words using the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty: