READER EMAILS ON MISSPEAKING

BY DAN MILLER
August 18, 2006

Thanks for all the emails on my "Misspeaking" essay.... I'll pass along a few snippets.

Kimberly, over in Lebanon, wrote:
...we share on thing in common. I too used to say "chimley", sometimes I still do.
Also, being the mother of a 6-year old I hear tons of "new" words. The most popular one of these is "Pete". That is what he has called every frog since he was about 4.
It's just accepted that if we see a frog everyone is calling it "Pete". Even if we are just sitting around talking about them, they are "Pete".

Thanks Kimberly.... and I can't help but wonder -- why are you guys just sitting around sometimes discussing frogs?

Eileen wrote:
I loved your article on misspeaking. One evening, when our son was around four years old, we were en-route to Chattanooga. A field off the interstate looked as if it had a million lightning bugs.
He looked over and said, "Mom, look at the thunder bugs!" It still brings a good laugh and a happy memory when we think of it. Our son is now thirty-nine years old!

Pat, from Jackson, wrote:
My granddaughter, when she was a little younger, sometimes woke up "crowdy" -- I think it was a blending of cross and some other word, but when it happened it wasn't a good thing.

Debbie wrote:
One of my grandchildren comes in my back door announcing that she is ready for "bassert" every time that she comes to Oma and Poppy's house.
She wants bassert as long as it is chocolate.

Here's what Paulette emailed:
When my nephew was little, he used the word "dructions" instead of directions or instructions.
He's now 27, but I still think it's a much better word than either of the two actual words, and our family still uses it.

Judy emailed this one:
I made a remark about something one evening and my young (3 or 4 year old) granddaughter said "Do you mean that, Grandma?" and I said, "No dear, I was being facetious."
She wanted to know what that meant and I explained the word to her.
Another day I said something and she said, "Grandma, are you being faTitious?"
The family thought that was so 'cute' that soon all the adults (and even the people in my office who heard the story, (and of course my granddaughter) were saying "faTitious".
A few years pass, and by now my granddaughter is in school and has learned to read.
One evening while watching TV, for some reason, the word facetious was printed along the bottom of the screen. My granddaughter immediately said, "Look, Grandma, they misspelled "faTitious!"
Of course then I had to explain the correct pronunciation and, of course, now SHE never uses that word, but it certainly was fun while it lasted.

Thanks everybody.
Here's one I read the other day.
It's a misquote from a 4 year old girl, as she recited the Lord's Prayer:
"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us some email."

And finally, a father was reading Bible stories to his young son.
He read, "The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city, but his wife looked back and was turned to salt."
His son asked, "What happened to the flea?"

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