Say falingo

Toddler words are one of life’s great pleasures for a parent. I’ve written about some of Breanna’s hum-dingers in previous posts, when I told you about the mush patch, bloop bloops and helipopters and the infamous Chucky Larms.

There’s nothing funnier than watching Bre wrinkle her forehead, scrunch her eyebrows and emphatically point to a photo in one of her books as she attempts to convince me that my pronunciation of a word is incorrect and her toddler word is correct.

The latest example: Falingo. You know, those pink plastic birds that — according to stereotypes — apparently frequent the front lawns of retirees in Florida?

Sometimes, Breanna listens to me when I correct her pronunciation of a word, then attempts to say it “the right way.” But if she is convinced that SHE has it right and DADDY has it wrong, good luck convincing her otherwise:

[in her best "Teacher" voice]: No Daddy. Not FLAMINGO. It’s FALINGO. Can you say FALINGO daddy? Say FALINGO.

But here’s my question: How do I know she’s wrong and I’m right? I mean … think about it. Back in the caveman days, everything was arbitrary. Things were referred to in grunts, whistles and burps. One day, did someone stuble across a skinny-legged psychodelic bird with backwards kneecaps and a bloated belly and say, “That, my dear Watson … is clearly a flamingo” with an air of certainty?

Hogwash. If my daughter says it’s a falingo, it’s a falingo. Case closed.

Now, on the flip side of toddler words are parent words. This afternoon, I discovered a great list of Parent Words that you might enjoy. This is one of those blog posts where the comments people have added are just as funny as — if not funnier than — the original post, so don’t forget to scroll down. Here are a few great examples (the first one is from the post itself, the second is from someone who left a comment):

Booty call [BOO-tee kaw] noun: A shout from the bathroom letting you know it’s time to go wipe someone’s butt

Leg beards: what my 4 yr. old calls it when he notices that I haven’t shaved my legs in a couple of days. “Mommy, you need to shave your leg beards again. They’re getting really long this time!” I thought everyone in the doctor’s office would fall out of their chairs when they heard that!!!

 

So, what are your favorite toddler and parent words?

 

*Actually, the word “flamingo” has its origins in Portuguese, not Caveman. But I digress.

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