linguistic questions

[Robert Lawless]

It is not just linguists who ponder these questions. My seven-year-old
crawls into bed with me this morning and asks, "How do people come up with
words," "Hmmmmmmmm," I sleepily respond. Looking up at the ceiling fan, he
asks, "How did they decide that the word for fan was fan?" Waking up and
realizing that I was in trouble, I say, "Well, people who study that sort
of thing are called linguists, and I have a friend named Ron who is a
linguist. I'll email him with your questions when I get to the office."
"Okay. Daddy, can I cuddle with you?" "Sure." A moment of silence and
relief. Then, "Daddy, how do you know what I mean when I use the word
cuddle?" Robert.
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