And the parent says, "You 'on' nee' dat! You ain' eedit da las' time I goddit! I ain' giddinit!"

Contributed By:Dorothy Nevils

All through high school I mispronounced a word, a word that we used day in and day out in my geometry class. I never gave it a second thought.

Mr. Jackson, whom we called “Stonewall” out of hearing range, said it “that way,” and though he said, “Nobody’s ‘puhfect,’ I thought he was, and I said it the same way.

I’d been a teacher for years, pretty close to the retirement marker before I heard that word said aloud again. It took me aback, and my skin scrunched between my brows. Whatever I was in the midst of I abandoned, and went immediately to the dictionary.

Oh. My. Word! All this time I had been saying it wrong – perfectly, precisely, and wrong! Not one soul had told me – but, then, there weren’t a whole bunch of chances for using that word. How many times do you get to use or hear congruent?

Now, be honest. Did you accent the first syllable, or like I’d said and heard everybody else say it, with the accent on the second syllable, con-gru’ent?

That’s the way we learn, and it begins before we talk. We say what we hear others say, and don’t change’ or even question, until we hear somebody else say it differently… and it has to be someone we trust… And that is the key! The most trusted person in one’s life is the parent; and that is why it is so very important that that parent begin as early as possible to model correct grammar and correct diction before the child begins to talk.

I am often appalled when I’m shopping and hear young parents modeling poor grammar and awful articulation for their children. The little darling is sitting in the cart, safe from other carts and other people, spilled milk and spilled beans, and the parent says, “You ’on’ nee’ dat! You ain’ eedit da las’ time I goddit! I ain’ giddinit!” Then she turns the cart sharply and marches away!

The child just got a lesson in grisly grammar and super lazy diction. The only thing missing is the adult’s saying, “Pass it on,” for that is exactly the message Mommy is giving!

Children trust their parents (until it becomes uncool), so parents should have their faces in their baby’s from day one, teaching! Exaggerate mouth movements. Don’t use the easier consonant d for t. Say, “Mommy’s little sweetie,” not “Mommy’s lididul sweedie.” Exaggerate the movements, and let the little fingers feel what’s happening… (Did you just say “liddul”?) There’s the misconception that the “muddled” sounds are more “loving,” or some nonsense, and folks, especially grandmas and “ole ladies” buy into that nonsense! Nothing can be more intriguing to a baby and its tiny fingers than lips that move and expose teeth – plus a little pink appearing like magic between those white teeth! “Believe me!”

It’s a fact: We say what we hear, and how we hear it said gets ironed in like a misplaced crease in slacks when you’re in a hurry. Don’t start your child off speaking poorly… and if you have, turn around at the next word and make that change. Watch your language. Don’t send your child out into the world flopping his or her tongue around like a pig sucking up slop!

Story Posted:10/08/2016