Original Shakespeare Pun

Q: How are a personal security agent and a flamboyant poet alike?

A: One is a "bodyguard" and the other is a "gaudy bard." --- original pun from Marie Byars       

     This type of humor draws from a real-life linguistic challenge called a "Spoonerism." Wiliam Archibald Spooner. was a clergyman (pastor).  He was also a dean and professor at New College of Oxford University.  Although well-respected, he was also well-known for his linguistic mix-ups.  He would switch parts of words and mispronounce phrases when speaking. swapping parts of different words with each other. Imagine having professions like his with this issue!

     We are all susceptible to the occasional Spoonerism in speaking. When it is more habitual, there can be a variety of reasons.