[Ads-l] Children's speech errors; 3 examples

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

> Gerald Cohen wrote:
> > For some time I've been collecting examples of children's
> > misinterpretations of words or phrases whose meaning are
> > beyond  their comprehension. . . .
> >
> > "flutterfly" -- A grandfather told me his 4 year old granddaughter
> >       says this for "butterfly."
> > ...
> > And give the children credit: Imho "flutterfly" makes more sense than
> >      "butterfly,"

Garson O'Toole wrote:
> There is a Wikitionary entry for the closely related "flutterby"
> https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/flutterby
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Etymology
> Spoonerism (eggcorn) of butterfly.
> Noun
> flutterby (plural flutterbies)
>  (childish) A butterfly.
> [End excerpt]
>
> "flutterby" is not in the OED. "flutterby" is mentioned in an article
> on Grammarphobia, the website of Patricia T. O’Conner and Stewart
> Kellerman.

Here is a link to the pertinent article:

The Grammarphobia Blog
What’s buttery about butterflies?
February 8th, 2008
https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2008/02/butterfly.html

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