Parents have all been there: hearing your toddler try out a word they’ve never said before, only to realise they’ve completely mispronounced it. Adorable, huh?
Do you correct them, knowing they’ll never call a “magazine” a “mazageen” again (that was my sister, when she was tiny) or enjoy the innocence and unintentional comedy your child is serving up?
One woman put the question to other mums on Mumsnet: “Will it scar my son for life if I let him find out for himself that it is, in fact, ‘bread sticks’ he loves, not “big d*cks’?!” And it seems she’s not the only one letting the hilarious mispronunciations play out a little longer than they probably should.
Dickman for Stickman
“We allow our daughter to shout dick man at the top of her voice every time she spots anything that resembles her favourite book character, Stick Man. It goes down especially well at the park amongst other parents.”
Cockporn for Popcorn
“My daughter proudly requested it at the cinema which was truly the best day of my life.”
Flavour for Favour
“My daughter asked me earlier if I could “do her a flavour”. I didn’t correct her it was too cute!”
Cucumbumber for Cucumber
“My four-year-old son has called cucumber “cucumbumber” so long that it is now part of our standard home vocabulary. He knows it’s not the right way to say it, but likes the sound of it so much (as it happens, so do I!) that he carries on and tells other people proudly what he calls it.”
Cuddles for Puddles
“When my son starts saying muddy cuddles instead of muddy puddles I think I’ll cry!”
Prophetic for Prosthetic
“It’s too sweet to correct for now. When I told my granddaughter I couldn’t lift her into the air when she sat on my leg because I’ve got a bad ankle she told me I could get my legs taken off and the doctor would give me ‘prophetic’ ones I couldn’t bear to correct her. It was too funny.”
Cocks for Clocks
“My little boy used to be obsessed with clocks. There was a big clock in the doctors reception behind the receptionist. He used to point at the receptionist and shout ” cock” very loudly.”
Flum for Thumb
“Mine says flum instead of thumb and now we all do, she also struggled for ages knowing when to stop on Rhinoceros, it was rhinoceros-eros-eros-eros.”
Pissmas for Christmas
“My favourite when my son was three was Pissmas. Never corrected it. Was very upset this year when he said it properly.”
Mipples for Meatballs
“My daughter loved meatballs and pasta, but meatballs would come out as ‘mipples’.”
And just a few more...
:: Pootaste for toothpaste
:: Fuckits for pockets
:: Grand-ass for granddad
:: Wisbury’s for Sainsbury’s
:: Pissgetti for spaghetti.