William Archibald Spooner

William Archibald Spooner ( born July 22, 1844 in London, † August 29, 1930 in Oxford ) was an English clergyman and philosopher. On him the Spoonerismus goes back, an expression for word twists, usually with comic results.

Life

William A. Spooner was born in 1844 in Grosvenor Place in London. He went to the Oswestry School in central England to school, studied at New College, Oxford, and was ordained in 1875 by the Church of England priest.

He made at New College career, first as a lecturer (1886 ), most recently as Warden ( 1903-1924 ), ie head of the college. He taught ancient history, theology and philosophy (focusing on ethics of Aristotle ). Overall, it was connected to the University over 60 years. His few publications were wide behind his teaching and administration activities back: The Histories of Tacitus (1891 ), Bishop Butler, His Life and Writings (1901) and Memoir of William of Wykeham (1909 ) are the only surviving writings.

Slip of the tongue as a fashion

Professor Spooner was considered strict, very religious and was popular. The students felt the little man with the big, pale red head ( Spooner was possibly albino) as a bizarre and odd, called him the Spoo, amused by his comic slip of the tongue as well as his incisive wit and turned it into a Puzzle. In the academic world of Oxford, the concept of Spoonerismus was already familiar in 1885; until the turn of the century it spread over the whole of England and was first mentioned in 1927 in The Times: Students should invent as homework, inter alia, a Spoonerismus.

What spoonerisms actually go back to William A. Spooner personally and how many are based on unintentional humor, is not precisely known. Spooner was an intellectual whose thoughts the words often outdid. Even mental absence was one of its properties. So he set about his colleagues, " Dr. Child's friend " as" Dr. Friend 's child " before, sorry for a widow with the words, her husband was " eaten by missionaries " were and said in a sermon: " The Lord is a shoving leopard " (instead of " The Lord is a loving shepherd. "). The New York Times stated in its obituary of Spooner in 1930, the only as evidence- firm handed involuntary mistake was 1879, the transposition of two letters in his church have been: He spoke from the pulpit to his congregation of " Kinquering Kongs Their Titles Take" instead of " Conquering Kings ...", and repeated this text once, until an amused murmur ran through the ranks. Later he gave the text "It is Easier for a camel to pass through the knee of an idol" ( instead of " ... eye of a needle" ) to his congregation from. Further, Spooner himself attributed twisters were "three cheers for our queer old dean" ( instead of " ... dear old queen" ) on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Jubilee and during a visit to the Navy in Portsmouth "to see the cattleships and bruisers " (instead of " battleships and cruisers ").

William A. Spooner was not always happy with his reputation. Once he intended to students who asked him to tell them something, have rejected with the words, they would indeed know nothing, but heard only a slip of the tongue of him in order to make fun of him. His student Robert Seton said at Spooners Golden Wedding party in 1928, the hype had practically developed without the professor of itself. He got together with his friend Arthur Sharp published a book entitled Spoonerisms, from the Spooner said it would please him, though none of the slip of the tongue would go to his account.

Spooner had five children. He died on August 29, 1930 and is buried in Grasmere.