Zoe-isms
As you can probably tell from my post a few weeks ago, my youngest daughter, Zoe, has a way with words. “I can swing my apples” is only the latest in a long line of malapropisms and mispronunciations. Here are a few of my favorites:
Lellow = Yellow
For the longest time, she couldn’t pronounce the “Y” in “yellow.” We even tried breaking it into sections:
Me: Say “yell.” Zoe: Yell! Me: Say “low.” Zoe: Low! Me: Say “yellow.” Zoe: Lellow!
Thrispee = Frisbee
This one has gotten closer over time. The flying disc is now referred to as a “Frispee.”
Slogs = Clogs
Last Thursday, her Pre-K class was going to the zoo. When I woke her up, she sat up groggily in bed and said, “Dad, I’m supposed to wear tennis shoes today because we’re going to the zoo. I’m not supposed to wear sandals or slogs.”
Sloppy Slops = Flip Flops
Sometimes when I’m trudging across a beach and one of my flip flops comes off I’ll think, “You know…she’s right. These blasted things are sloppy slops. Maybe I should have worn slogs.”
Floppy Joe = Sloppy Joe
Whenever she eats one, the filling tends to flop out all over the place so it stands to reason.
Curse = Crush
The other night she was talking about the various ongoing romances in her Pre-K class. “I’ve got a curse on Max,” she declared. Then she turned to her sister, Emma, and asked “Who do you have a curse on?”
Ron’t = Won’t
Pronounced: roant
Me: Don’t get too close the edge, Zoe. Zoe: Don’t worry, I ron’t.
Pupcakes = Cupcakes
My personal favorite.
Comments
Jenny
Zoe’s definitely a one-of-a-kind sort of gal. One of her partners in crime, my Paige, must be taking lessons. She came home today with a beautiful yellow-and-black striped “Bum-Bum Bee” she’d made at preschool…
Jodi
My nephew used to say “chocolate” for “chocolate”. It was so cute it almost made me cry. “Pupcake” would probably do the same thing.
Jodi
Oh god. The first “chocolate” should be “clocklit”.
(Actually, if left alone, that comment would be pretty funny.)
maria
My husband Chris is the same way! He says “I’m a goober” when he means “I am hot.” Silly studmuffin.
Jay
My brother used to call windshield wipers: Wipeshields
jack
my 2 year old boy called patrick from ‘spongebob square pants’, “fackit”. it caught our attention the first time.
Kim
Zoe’s older sister, Emma, has some good ones too. For years when asked whether she wanted chicken or beef, she would reply: “Beeth, please.”
ames
My tenderhearted five-year-old came home from school one day obviously upset. She was so excited to have finally grown her hair out long enough to wear ponytails. But during recess, a little boy had kept yelling “Bunny Ears Attack!”—an obvious dig at her fabulous new ‘do. A few weeks later, she requested that I fix her hair in ponytails again. After school I asked her if anyone had called her “Bunny Ears” again. She said, “No, DUMBKIN wasn’t there today.” I was about to give her a lecture on not calling other people names no matter what they may call us, on turning the other cheek, on two wrongs not making a right, when I realized she wasn’t being consciously malicious. She really thought Duncan’s name was Dumbkin.
Kim
OK, I have another Zoe story. Last night we visited the new Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake. There was a half flight of stairs from the parking garage to the main lobby. Next to the stairs there was a small “lift” - not quite an elevator - for people in wheelchairs to arrive at the lobby. Zoe asked repeatedly if we could ride up the nifty little elevator. I explained to her that it was specifically for those who couldn’t walk up and down the stairs. She looked at me in earnest and replied, “But sometimes I trip.”