If you’re not familiar, a spoonerism is when you swap the first sounds of words. For example, saying “blushing crow” instead of “crushing blow.” Mr. Spooner did this constantly.
He’d walk in and declare, “I’m off to the Roving Shoom!” (translation: moving room/stockroom). He’d talk about a “sanitary pineapple” (a pinafore apron) or ask for a “nake and a pail” (a cake and a nail). Pure poetry.
And the best part? He never, ever cracked a smile. The man delivered these verbal train wrecks with the deadpan seriousness of a bank manager discussing interest rates. It was hilarious.
"I'm a Good Schooner!"
His most famous line? When the other staff members complained about his customers being difficult, he’d puff out his chest and say, “I’m a very good schooner!” Wait—what? He meant “a very good shooner”—but the words got jumbled into sailor territory. It always got a huge laugh, and you could practically see the other actors biting their lips to keep from breaking character.
Let’s be real: Mr. Spooner was a walking Freudian slip factory. But unlike your uncle at Thanksgiving, his slips were art.
He’d tell a customer, “This suit is a perfect tit” (fit). Or he’d complain that his tea was “too hot to hold, too cold to handle.” You’d just sit there, waiting for the next glorious verbal explosion.
MIKE BERRY -Mr Spooner in Are You Being Served - hand signed 10 x 8 ph
