Children and their misconceptions of the English language!
This story has been passed down and around my family for as long as I can remember.
My oldest sister, when she was quite young, was a lovely child. Mother always dressed her prim and proper for any day out on the town. Sis was always a very fastidious child as well. Not one drop of ice cream ever touched her dress, so conscientious of her appearance was she! In other words...OCD!
One day, mother took sis with her to meet with father for lunch in Seattle. They had planned to meet down at one of the restaurants on the pier but mother was running more than an hour early. Nearby there was an interesting little store called Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe, where many strange and delightful things from around the world could be found. Most were for sale, but some were not.
Suspended from the ceiling in one corner of the shop was a put together conglomeration of various animal parts. It was called the Mer-family, and consisted of a father at the top, with a wife and two children suspended below him on wires. This was actually a rather hideous creation that, to the best of my knowledge, still hangs there to this day. The heads were small monkey heads with some kind of fish bodies attached to the heads, and
chicken legs and feet for arms and hands!
Picture if you will, a lovely lady in her mid 20's (my mother) with darling little girl of about 3-4 years old (my sister), in a white pinafore dress who come in to peruse the store while waiting for the appointed time to meet husband/father for lunch. Everyone in the store commented on how lovely my sister looked. She really was adorable in those days (I wonder what happened!
....just kidding sis! I love ya to pieces!) People even commented to my mother on how lovely sis was. Oh what a darling little girl! How old is she? were the comments most often made.
Well, siss eyes were as big as silver dollars when they lit upon the Mere-family ! She stood under it for the better part of five minutes trying to decide just what this monstrosity was. Finally, giving up in disgust, she tugged on my mothers skirt and said in a fairly loud voice...Mommy? What in naa how is dat!?!? (what in the H*ll is that?) You could have heard a pin drop....followed by gales of laughter and my bright red mother beating a hasty retreat with sis firmly by the hand in tow behind her!
From that day forward, mother vowed never to swear in front of us kids again. And, to this day, we use that same sentence when we see something that confounds us! What in naa how is THAT??!?!?!
