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

[Margaret Lee]

My husband says that when he was in elementary school and had to repeat the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag,  he heard and said  "... and to the republic for Richard Stans  ..." (he thought it was a person). 
--Margaret Lee 

 
      From: "Cohen, Gerald Leonard" <gcohen at MST.EDU>
 To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU 
 Sent: Sunday, April 3, 2016 11:19 AM
 Subject: Re: Language and children; flee/flea.
   
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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