Multicultural faux pas
At Goodwill last week:
Hans, after hearing a couple nearby converse in Spanish: “Mom, why is that person saying words that make no sense?”
Mom: “Keep your voice down, please. Language blah blah blah.”
Hans: “Mom, what’s a language?”
Mom: “Words, blah, blah, blah.”
That evening:
Hans: “Dad, and Mom told me it was a language like Nora speaks a language. Sometimes she says, “Aite” (spelling help, Kirsti!).”
Mom: “That’s right. Do you know what Aite means?”
Hans: “No.”
Mom: “It means ‘mom’ in Finnish. So when Nora says ‘Aite,’ she is saying ‘Mommy.’”
Hans: “Mom, what’s Finnish?”
Mom: “That’s the language Nora and Henry and their Mommy speak sometimes. If they say words you don’t understand, they are speaking Finnish, a different language. But they can understand what it means.”
Hans: “Mom, I think that means ‘finish your dinner.’”
Mom: “Well, how about you just do that.”
Next day:
Hans, drinking his milk loudly, makes an inarticulate gulping noise deliberately.
Mom: “Don’t make sounds when you drink.”
Hans: “Ghlug. That’s my Finnish [finish?] word for when I finish my milk.”
Mom: “…..”
When Nora was little she used to refer to Finnish as “language.” She would correct Mark’s pronunciation or point out that a book was Finnish by saying “That’s language ” in a superior tone. Oh, and it is spelled Äiti.
Melanie got a big kick out of this story when I related it to her…
Something about “A pun! and Mystie thought she was getting away from Geoff and his puns”