[Ads-l] Language and children; flee/flea.

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

Many thanks for the reply below and for the others pertaining 
to children's language. Daniel's reply *is* helpful; it lets me
know that the flee/flea story wasn't from a friend or family
member of his. A family story of that sort would remain
in one's memory. 

Btw, Here are two examples of children's misinterpretations,
provided to me by a student some 35 years ago: 
(from a six year old boy): "Our father, who art in heaven,
Hollywood be thy name."
(from a child reciting the Pledge of Allegiance): "...with liver
and onions for all" (= with liberty and justice for all). 

If anyone has any other examples, please send them along
any time.  I'm compiling them and will of course give due
credit.

Gerald Cohen 
________________________________________
David Daniel wrote (02, 2016 6:41 PM) wrote:

2008? I have a hard time remembering what I did yesterday. However, I
suspect I just ran across the joke somewhere. If you Google the
exchange/joke there are a number of instances of it out there, and I doubt
that I started them. Sorry I can't be more help.
DAD

Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       "Cohen, Gerald Leonard" <gcohen at MST.EDU>
Subject:      Language and children; flee/flea. Was: Antedating of Flea
Market
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I've been collecting information on children's language, including

children's misperceptions of adult speech.  In this regard, I

noticed David Daniel's 2008 message below, in which a child

humorously mistook the verb "flee" to be the noun "flea."

Might I now ask David:  Does he have first-hand knowledge

of this humorous incident? (Did he hear it himself? Was it told

about a child of one of his friends or relatives?) Or was it

perhaps a fabricated bit of humor that can't reliably be judged

to have actually occurred?

Gerald Cohen

________________________________
Original message to American Dialect Society on behalf of David A. Daniel
(dad at POKERWIZ.COM<mailto:dad at POKERWIZ.COM>)
Sent: Wed 7/9/2008 10:52 AM
Subject: Re: Antedating of Flea Market

Sunday school teacher, reading Bible passage: "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."

Concerned four-year-old: "What happened to the flea?"
DAD

<snip>

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