"Friday is errand day." Thus begins Elise Broach's humorous book When Dinosaurs Came With Everything. Earlier this week, I realized there were some children who were unfamiliar with the term errand, so I began asking ahead of time if anyone knew what an errand was. In each class, several children volunteer to tell their definitions, and all have been interesting. I loved one from yesterday: it's something you do, like going to the store or getting gas, that you really wish you didn't have to do. Today, we experienced what I call a Miss Alaineus moment in a third grade class. I speak clearly and try to enunciate when I read aloud. After others talked about errands, one student said, "It's errands? I always thought it was Erin's, like we are going to someone's house."
My errand tonight was getting shoe inserts for the boys at REI!
Very funny! I bet we'd be surprised by how often our words are "misheard" by young listeners. Growing up, when we sang "My Country Tis of Thee" at school, I always thought the line "land of the Pilgrims's pride" was actually "land of the Pilgrim's pried," referring to the Pilgrims prying up logs from the ground to make their cabins.
ReplyDeletesometimes mis-hearings can be hilarious, other times they can lead to such terrible mis-understandings.
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