Spooner has become famous for his “spoonerisms” (“He was killed by a blushing crow” – He was killed by a crushing blow). Few, if any, of his own spoonerisms were deliberate. After the concept of Spoonerisms became popularized, Spooner denounced a crowd that had gathered to hear him speak by saying, “You haven’t come for my lecture, you just want to hear one of those…things.”

Spooner is supposed to have committed other absent-minded gaffes. He was said to have invited a don to tea, “to welcome Stanley Casson, our new archaeology Fellow”. “But, sir,” the man replied, “I am Stanley Casson”. “Never mind,” Spooner said, “Come all the same.”