Words are funny things and homonyms add even more confusion to our already confusing language. This isn't about homonyms per se, but about a slight mishearing my son Avi had when we arrived at church this last Sunday morning.
The context is somewhat fuzzy in my mind but Avi was still buckled in his seat and wanting to get out. Elizabeth, my wife, said something like, "We're not going to leave you in the car." I added, "Of course not!" The next thing I hear is Avi saying, "I'm not a poor snot!" Well, of course, not! Who's on first?
I guess it's a good insight into the mind of an almost-three-year-old. They haven't built the mental framework and phrase vocabulary to hear a snippet of speech, understand the context and interpret back into its intended meaning. This takes years of immersion in a language and one of the reasons that sarcasm isn't well understood until well into the grade-school years. It's important for us to continue to make sure that Avi understands what we mean when we say it and have him repeat back his own interpretation of events, instructions, jokes, whatever. He's very good at acting like he understands - and he probably thinks he does, but until we hear it back we can't be so sure.
Just another adventure in parenting - untangling the strange tangles of cognitive linguistics - a coarse knot, to be sure . (or is it two bee shore...?)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment