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When I was in the early years of elementary school and we sang America the Beautiful, I thought we were singing "God s--t his grace on thee." I thought that was rather strange, but maybe that was how God worked. Also, until late high school, I knew there was a name "Sean," and a name I heard pronounced "Shawn." I believe it was not until maybe my senior year that I connected the two.
Kids' talk is often unknowingly funny. Sometimes they misunderstand words, sometimes their limited vocabulary or experience means they express things differently than we expect.
Anyone else old enough to remember Art Linkletter talking with kids and their surprising conversations? Here's one example:
-- Art: So you help mom cook breakfast? What do you do?
-- Boy: (Proudly) I put the bread in the toaster. (More modestly) But she doesn't let me flush it.
Here are some real-life situations I've encountered:
That's how I heard it...
-- One little boy didn't care much for salad, except for those savory, crunchy bread cubes. He always asked for more "coupons" (croutons).
-- A little girl I know was delighted that bread could be shaped like cupcakes. She especially liked chili supper because it would usually include "nuthin's" (muffins).
-- That same little girl told me she liked when her family watched TV movies on Saturday nights because they got to eat "hot corn" (popcorn).
Too smart for his own good...
-- A friend's outgoing 4-year-old used to get people's attention by telling them, "I can spell Albuquerque!"
I advised my friend that bragging is probably not a habit she would want him to continue.
At my suggestion (I have to admit), she taught him to take the direct approach and let others make their own judgment.
After that he would approach strangers and announce brightly, "I'm precocious!" (Can't argue with that!)
How do I say this?...
-- While petting my dog, a neighbor girl told me, "He has a pink tongue, just like my dog."
I pointed out, "Yes, and it has black spots on it, doesn't it?"
She inspected carefully to confirm, then gave me her diagnosis: "Yeah... I think the paint's coming off."
Any one else have stories to share about kids' use of language?
I think I already mentioned this in some other thread, but I'll add it here since it's kinda' "on topic," and I suspect it's a common error.
As a child, I knew of, and recognized the iconic image of the Taj Mahal. For the longest time I thought it was the "Tajma Hall." Then one day I saw it in print and realized my error. It had previously made sense to me that it was a "hall" with an Indian name.
Another was the word "voila," often used as an exclamation. But when I saw it in print I always read it as "viola" (the instrument) and pronounced it that way in my head. Not sure when I made the connection, but it eventually dawned on me those were two different words.
Finally, an example from my teaching days. A student had written an essay answer that included the phrase "for all intensive purposes." I struggled for awhile to make sense of his meaning, and then realized he had meant to say "for all intents and purposes."
I suspect these kinds of errors happen more often these days, as more kids "learn" the language by listening instead of reading?
I recall my childhood guardian's daughter making me laugh numerous times. She thought my tortoise, Hezakiah was a hezakiah. I'll bet to this day, she may call a tortoise a hezakiah. I tried to explain to her that it was his name. She understood naming her dolly, but not a reptile. Then there was…"Onward Christian soldiers, Marjorie goes to war." and "If I'm pregnant, I don't have to do any homework." Asked for specifics, the answer was.."You know, when the teacher says, 'Marylin Jane Thompson?' and I say, 'pregnant!'"
I was a tireless reader. Conversations were limited, so I must have been a teenager before I figured out that "replied" was not pronounced rep-leed nor was debris pronounced dee-bris. I knew what they meant, I just never heard the words pronounced. Of course there was also, "Our fatehr, who art in heaven, Tallow be thy name. I'd heard of tallow, I just had no idea why it was God's name.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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