Last Sunday I was sitting doing some cross-stitching and listening to Christmas music. One particular song reminded me of a conversation my mom and I had when I was a wee lass.
Mom liked to relate that one day, out of the blue, I asked her where was Historine. It took us a couple of minutes of back and forth conversation for her to figure out exactly what I was asking.
Growing up during the holiday time of year, the radio in our kitchen frequently played various Christmas songs and one I liked (as I'm sure lots of kids still do . . . and maybe adults also) was "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."
In my mind, at that time, I always heard the line " . . . you'll go down in history" as " . . . you'll go down in Historine." Therefore, my questioning was as to where good old Rudolph ended up. Where the heck was "Historine?"
What are some of the misunderstandings of sayings or incorrect pronunciations of words you remember having as a child?
9 comments:
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for witches stand. My childhood mess up.
suzanne - I can see where that would be a very common one for lots of kids growing up. Good one!
Ohhhhh, I love this topic!! Here are some examples: my daughter was skipping around and repeating, "Lifis botta lifis botta lifis botta..." Eventually I got to the understanding that she was singing the part of Row, Row, Row Your Boat, "life is but a dream".
Here in Canada, we have Tim Horton's which is a coffee / donut shop. I honestly don't know if it is in the States or not. When he was small, our son called it Timportance, kind of like importance. I always thought it would be a great slogan for the company.
Through my years of teaching, I've heard lots, but don't remember too many misunderstanding of language. However I had more than one student who thought the animal was a "woof", as opposed to a wolf.
I also had another student in grade three, I believe. She asked how to spell "akleest". I asked her to say it in a sentence so I could figure out what she actually wanted. She mean "at least" but of course, her mind always heard, "akleest", so that's what she thought it was.
My dad told the story of "Sadly, the cross-eyed bear". When he was young, that's what he thought the hymn was about. Indeed, it was "sadly, the cross I'd bear".
That was kind of a long comment, wasn't it? -Jenn
Jenn - After teaching for so many years (plus having two kids of your own), I knew you'd have something to share. That one of your dad's couldn't be more understandable! Thanks for taking the time to write your comment. :o)
Ha! And think of how many kids think carolers are harking an angel named "Harold." :)
My interpretation of that line was "... and you'll go down and readastory". To young to know what history was yet.
At 19 my first real job was as a transcriber (on a dictaphone -anyone remember those) at a University. The speaker referred frequently to LSI's (short for Lifespan Interview I think) - but I typed Ellis Eyes about a hundred times.
Leigh - I wonder how many search the Bible for confirmation that there is an angel named Harold? ;o)
SmartAlex - A different interpretation of the same line! Being read a story sounds a lot more interesting than going down in history. :o)
Eileen in Fla. - Can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing! And, yes, I remember dictaphones. I had a job transcribing oral histories from a spool to spool tape recorder!
Rudolph is so cute! Have a Merry Christmas!
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