Word Play; Child’s Play
Word Translation
When my grandkids were younger we had lots of sleepovers. Because there are three of them, I took them one at a time—which guaranteed lots of one-on-one personal time.
One of those weekends, I experienced the delightful company of my four-year-old grandson, Ethan. As a word-lover to the core, I am fascinated how children hear words and how they translate them into their language.
Since it was such a lovely spring day, Ethan and I had a picnic out on the patio. Because of pesky flies, I made sure I had my flyswatter close by. At one point Ethan started to grab the swatter end, and I admonished him not to touch it while eating.
“Oh yeah, " he said, "because it’s all fly-gut-ty.”
Hm. Took the words right out of my mouth, Ethan. That’s exactly how I would have said it.
Not!
But it makes perfect sense, right? The flyswatter is all fly-gut-ty!
Eggs Need Crushing
At breakfast I let him break eggs into a bowl and then use the egg beater to whip up our scrambled eggs. Later, after we’d enjoyed our scrambled egg breakfast, Ethan said, “That was fun using the egg-crusher.”
Of course. How descriptive. The egg-crusher! It did indeed crush the eggs.
Don’t you love it?
Toss the Mechanic in the Pool
At one point during the visit, Ethan asked me, “What is a mechanic?”
Great question. I carefully explained that a mechanic is a person who knows all about motors and engines and can fix them. Of course, as verbose as I am, I added lots of details.
After patiently waiting for me to finish, he asked, “Then why do we put them in the pool?”
The pool? I was lost.
“Yes,” he said, “we put them in the pool to keep it clean.”
“Ah,” I said. “Do you mean chemicals?”
He giggled. “Oh yeah. Sometimes, I get my words all mixed up.”
As do we all, Ethan. As do we all!
Chemicals. Mechanics. Do they sound similar to you? I’m looking at how they are spelled. Many of the same letters in each. But his ears heard what his ears heard.
Fodder for the Journal
I find this fascinating. Absolutely fascinating.
More fodder for my journal! Memories for me and for Ethan. And who knows—one of these may one day show up in a future novel.
Which is why I keep journals and notebooks!
Writing/Publishing Sites
http://www.beanovelist.com/
https://www.facebook.com/BeANovelist/
http://www.cleanteenreads.net/
https://www.facebook.com/CleanTeenReadsNet/
Family smiles-a-plenty...
I like verbose...verbose is interesting. I am a word-fan to my very core too and again I never explain something with 5 words when 176 will do the job just as well. I get to indulge my etymology passion too when using this pleasant little haven on the block-chain I follow a number of people whose writing excites me.
You raise an immensely exciting question (for me...I am a tad strange) I realise exciting may sound a little OTT but I love to hear children using descriptive language. Some parents/grandparents exhibit great snobbery with regard to the language the little ones use. Not I.
I am often saddened by the shrinkage of the average vocabulary ten thousand different feelings and emotions all squashed and condensed into the two separate boxes of good and bad. I often ask my girls to give me a better explanation of how good or indeed bad some experience was.
I believe Ethan has the "right of it" (I also enjoy an interesting turn of phrase) if knowledge you already possess helps to translate and describe a new thought feeling or experience then go for it...No snobbery here!
Oh you keep a journal? that is wonderful, what better way to capture those magical moments and experiences in a way that they can be revisited again and again.
An enjoyable read, thankYOU, tempered with an unmistakable loving warmth that only family and great friends can conjure.
Take great care. May your journey be one filled with fun, fulfillment and
mechanicsjoy :DThanks @stevenwood. I appreciate your reply. Yes, I've journaled for many years, and even taught classes on the subject for our community continuing education.
"No snobbery" is correct!
Ethan is so much fun to be with
So true @esoziejeraldine!
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