Word Play 5

soroban

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\(\displaystyle \begin{array}{c}Dueling\;Maxims \\ \\ \text{The bigger, the better.} \\ \text{Good things come in small packages.} \\ \\ \text{What's good for the goose is good for the gander.} \\ \text{One man's meat is another man's poison.} \\ \\ \text{Actions speak louder than words.} \\ \text{The pen is mightier than the sword.} \\ \\ \text{You're never too old to learn.} \\ \text{You can't teach an old dog new tricks.} \\ \\ \text{Birds of a feather flock together.} \\ \text{Opposites attract.} \\ \\ \text{All good things come to those who wait.} \\ \text{Time and tide wait for no man.} \\ \\ \text{Look before you leap.} \\ \text{He who hesitates is lost.} \\ \\ \text{Many hands make light work.} \\ \text{Too many cooks spoil the broth.} \end{array}\)



\(\displaystyle \begin{array}{c}Spoonerisms \\ \text{A transposition of sounds} \\ \text{Named for Rev. Dr. William A. Spooner} \\ \\ \text{cute frocktail} \\ \\ \text{a shoving leopard} \\ \\ \text{kinquering congs} \\ \\ \text{a half-warmed fish} \\ \\ \text{"It is kisstomary to cuss the bride."} \\ \\ \text{Speaking before an audience of farmers:} \\ \text{"I have never addressed so many tons of soil."} \\ \\ \text{"I believe that pie is occupewed.} \\ \text{Let me sew you to another sheet."} \\ \\ \text{"Give three cheers for our queer old dean."} \end{array}\)

 
If I recollect correctly, what Spooner said was

"I have in my heart a half-warmed fish," a statement that puts everything in context.

He is also reputed to have said that a great form of exercise was to use a "well boiled icicle."

My sister for a time had a co-worker who raised spoonerisms into super-spoonerisms by mixing up whole cliches rather than just phonemes.

An example, "You can lead Mohammad to the mountain, but you can't make him drink."
 
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