# Is There A Term For This Type Of Wordplay? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 7, 2018, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400 "2018-02-07T23:09:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400/1 "2018-02-07T23:09:54Z")
An Album Cover = Anal Bum Cover. Catch These Men = Catch The Semen. Pen Island = Penisland. Back when I was a kid I sometimes had to do (obviously kid-friendly) puzzles like this in the puzzle books Mom got me. One I remember was trying to find the animal word hidden in a sentence. As in, “On this hil **l I on** ce sneezed” (lion). ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400/2 "2018-02-07T23:11:10Z")
I don’t know, but I came up with one a couple years ago… Stool Softener=Stools Oftener ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400/3 "2018-02-08T00:15:43Z")
In cryptic crosswords, that would be called a “charade”. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400/4 "2018-02-08T01:00:18Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > In cryptic crosswords, that would be called a “charade”. Until a few years ago, I was not aware that cryptic crosswords were a thing outside of _Games_ magazine. One of the more shameful gaps in my knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400/5 "2018-02-08T01:18:51Z")
In Linguistics, changing lexeme boundaries like that is called reanalysis, so I suppose a humorous reanalysis would be a misanalysis. [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/reanalysis](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/reanalysis) > [@](#): > > (linguistics) Analyzing a lexeme with a different structure from its original, often by misunderstanding. For example, hamburger, which is originally Hamburg + -er, was reanalyzed as ham + -burger, which produced words like cheeseburger. (Since reanalysis is also called ‘folk etymology’, this might be a ‘joke etymology’, but that’s taking a joke too far, folks.) ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400/6 "2018-02-08T03:17:39Z")
They are arguably spoonerisms, though spoonerisms are supposed to be “accidentally humorous”. There is/was a guy traveling the renaissance faires who tells spoonerisms for a living. Zilch, the Tory Speller. He’s great fun to listen to. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400/7 "2018-02-08T03:42:49Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > They are arguably spoonerisms, though spoonerisms are supposed to be “accidentally humorous”. There is/was a guy traveling the renaissance faires who tells spoonerisms for a living. Zilch, the Tory Speller. He’s great fun to listen to. Not by any usual definition of [spoonerisms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoonerism), which require parts of words to be switched in order. In the examples, all of the parts of the words are in order. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400/8 "2018-02-08T04:03:08Z")
This one seems to be well-known: Therapist = The rapist. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400/9 "2018-02-08T04:05:37Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > This one seems to be well-known: Therapist = The rapist. Also: Psychotherapist = Psycho the Rapist ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400/10 "2018-02-08T04:17:44Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Not by any usual definition of [spoonerisms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoonerism), which require parts of words to be switched in order. In the examples, all of the parts of the words are in order. You are correct. That’s what I get for trying to hold two conversations and pay attention to my screen. The screen lost. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400/11 "2018-02-08T12:15:22Z")
These are a standard part of the jokes on the _Celebrity Jeopardy!_ sketches on _Saturday Night Live_: > **[10 Iconic Misreadings Of SNL "Celebrity Jeopardy" Categories](https://www.buzzfeed.com/fivezaj/10-iconic-misreadings-of-the-snl-celebrity-jeopar-a8zp?utm_term=.wdaKoMJMOx#.jaOxm838Kq)** > > Suck it Trebek. Sincerely, Turd Ferguson and Sean Connery. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400/12 "2018-02-08T12:52:19Z")
I’ll take s-words for $200, Alex. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400/13 "2018-02-08T13:19:06Z")
I’ve always been amused in department stores by the trilogy of menswear, womenswear and childrenswear. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400/14 "2018-02-08T18:41:44Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > I don’t know, but I came up with one a couple years ago… > > Stool Softener=Stools Oftener I’ll be darned. I thought _I_ wrote that joke! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400/15 "2018-02-08T19:09:10Z")
[TVTropes has the concept](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheProblemWithPenIsland), but doesn’t mention a specific term for it. (It mentions scripta continua, but I don’t think it fits.) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400/16 "2018-02-08T20:01:27Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > [TVTropes has the concept](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheProblemWithPenIsland), but doesn’t mention a specific term for it. (It mentions scripta continua, but I don’t think it fits.) Yeah, scripta continua just means writing “continuously”, with no markings or spaces to indicate word boundaries. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400/17 "2018-02-08T20:46:57Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > I’ll be darned. I thought _I_ wrote that joke! I only noticed because of a typo I made in a patient’s chart once. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400/18 "2018-02-08T22:15:45Z")
There was a website at one point where you could get expert advice on various topics, called “[expertsexchange.com](http://expertsexchange.com)” I believe they eventually added a dash in the middle to avoid the ambiguity. I enjoyed **Derleth** ’s info on reanalysis. That said, I think I prefer to imagine that cheeseburgers come from the city of Cheeseburg, whose demographics largely resemble Hamburg, except for a lower rate of lactose intolerance. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400/19 "2018-02-08T22:41:01Z")
Another example similar to “hamburger” is “alcoholic”. Alcohol-ic is reanalysed to al-coholic as in chocoholic, workaholic, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400/20 "2018-02-08T23:11:13Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > I’ll take s-words for $200, Alex. The penis, mightier than the s-word. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-type-of-wordplay/808400.md?page=2)