[For your reading pleasure today, another Throwback. Or…should I say SNOWback? Oh, my sides. Enjoy, in spite of bad puns.]
They say that in the Inuit language, there are about fifty different words that can be translated into one English word: snow. Those conversing about snow in that language are able to understand perfectly what kind of white stuff is being referred to since the description is inherent in the word.
We are not so fortunate in the English economy of words. Snow, other than the original meaning, can also refer to the fuzzy reception on your television (talk about a throwback) or in alternate verb form, to trick someone. All this can be very confusing to a small person. Hanging out with my small children, I can hear a lot of funny interpretations as they attempt to translate the adult language around them.
Kids are literalists. On the morning of the first frost, Gil was calling his little brothers’ attention to the crystallized scene out our window. When he referred to it as frost (there’s probably a really appropriate word for it in Inuit), Tim’s eyes got very big and said, “That’s a pretty big cake out there!” Although he’s old enough to know that the frosting outside isn’t sweet – not that Timmy wouldn’t test the theory – he got the connection immediately. In another “chilly” scenario, while picking some sticky burrs off Simon’s sweatpants the other day, I asked a little friend of his if he ever had burrs. To which he replied, “I only get “brrrs” when I eat ice cream.”
My two older boys have sibling rivalry down pat. They are constantly scrapping about…well, everything. So when Tim went off to spend the day with Dad last week, I had a relatively peaceful day with the other two. Later that evening, when I called Gil’s attention to the fact that there were no fights that day, I inadvertently told him that he and Tim were “the problem”. He took it upon himself to explain this to Tim as they lay in bed that night. Using the best analogy he could come up with, we overheard him say to Tim, “It’s like the world is a big math book and we’re the problem!”
As if single words weren’t enough, kids have to decipher phrases as well. My nephew Sam is the star of a favorite family story. One day, as his mom was bent over cutting his fingernails, he decided to investigate something that his mom had repeatedly told him. Reaching into her hair, he prodded her head, then said, “Oops, sorry, Mom. I poked you in the eye.” Puzzled, she denied that his fingers had gone anywhere near her eyes. To which he replied, “I meant the ones in the back of your head.”
Be careful what you say to your children. They might take you literally and poke you in the eye – oops – I mean the head.