Evolution of a Word

Please scroll down the page and let us share with you some of the fun and interesting things some children are saying.

Some definitions from Dr Johnson’s Dictionary dated 1869:

Sun: The luminary that makes the day.

Moon:  The great luminary of the night.

Star:  A luminous globe in the heavens.

Butterfly: A beautiful winged insect.

Ladybird, ladycow: A red insect.

Balloon: A large vessel; a ball on the top of a pillar; a globe made of silk, etc, which, being inflated with gas, rises into the air.

Heart: The seat of life in an animal.

Cloud: A body of vapours in the air.

Lella!

Selene’s used to call out Lella! to her beloved Cinderella every time she saw her anywhere and then at 16 months she changed it to Cillalella.

Hit Man

We watched The Wizard of Oz and afterwards she repeated the names of Dorothy, Scarecrow (Sacrow), Lion (Lion King) and Tin Man (Hit Man).

Ballet

Selene has started to climb onto the little round table and after spinning and moving her hands gracefully says “ballet, ballet” and then bends down as if to do a grand plie and says “ballet 2, 3, 4”.

 

Honeyspinneys

Sophie sometimes makes up her own words for things - before she learned the word for sequins she called them “honeyspinneys”.

It’s Gone All Boogley

When her dress sleeve got twisted up inside the sleeve of her coat Sophie first described it as “curly” and then she said “it’s gone all boogley”.

Sweekins

Sweekins is a word Sophie used to describe Weetabix with raisins

A Monster Feeling

Sophie was adamant she wanted to wear the pink tights and not the white ones with flowers. This was her logic - “It’s got a monster feeling to it.”

Dots

Aleda from Dublin started saying “da tu” for thank you before she was a year old. At 17 months, she decided to shorten it to “dots” (thanks).

Day-O!

When Aleda wants to hear Day-O when she is visiting her grandmother (Nonny), she sings it and says “Yes?”.

Sinnin

Carol’s daughter Julie from Buffalo, New York invented many of her own words for things:  peanut butter was “sinnin” and pumpkin was “dooong”.

One day when she thought Julie wasn’t eating enough recently Carol said to her “What do you live on?” and Julie said “Totomac. 580 Totomac.”

The Rain

When Ben from Oxfordshire was 2 1/2 he said to his parents “The rain is wearing camouflage trousers. You can’t see it.”

It sounds like Porridge

Olivia from Oxfordshire when referring to mashed up Wheetabix said “It sounds like poddige”.

When her parents told her she could go skiing when she is a bit older Olivia said “I can go giing when I av bigger feet”.

Oops a daisy/oh dear became a sweet “Oops Dear”

Alison from Surrey tells us her son said “apple” perfectly for several weeks from the age of 10 months, and then just stopped saying it, although he still knows exactly what an apple is. 

The poem you are listening to is the beginning of Lied vom Kindsein (Song of Childhood), written by Peter Handke and performed by Bruno Ganz from the Wim Wenders film Wings of Desire. You can hear the poem in its entirety throughout this beautiful film.  On my links page there is a direct link to the English text of the poem in Wim Wenders’ official website.