"in one swell foop" (sic)--another example

[Sam Clements]

Would you have thought that the words "swell foop" would have appeared as
early as 1933.  They did.  NewspaperArchive.

Is Spooner supposed to have used these very words?  If so, then his death
prior to 1933 would cause me to search a defferent database for an earlier
cite.

Sam Clements

----- Original Message -----
From: "Cohen, Gerald Leonard" <gcohen at UMR.EDU>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2004 5:14 PM
Subject: "in one swell foop" (sic)--another example


> "Intentional spoonerism" is an oxymoron, although "in one swell foop") is
so designated in HDAS. In the same vein, the late Peter Tamony often used to
sign off his letters with "West bishes" (Best wishes). I suppose this
feature has (or should have) some place in general linguistic theory. For
example, is "foop" a word or not? If it isn't, what is it? And if it is,
what is its meaning? If language is a system, how does "foop" fit in? -- (I
ask these questions merely in the spirit of public musing.)