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Original poster

Anyone speak toddler?

54 replies

Bienentrinkwasser · 19/04/2020 07:57

My 19 month old has taken to saying ‘purple’ all the time and I have literally no idea what it means. He definitely isn’t referring to the colour purple (he knows the names of colours but not with any reliability that he’ll match them to the correct colour). He seems to say it whenever he likes something! He says ‘give it’, ‘reach it’, ‘pass it’, ‘please’ or ‘(DS) help’ (as in ‘mummy let me help you eat that cake’) etc. So I don’t think he’s asking for anything. What is he trying to say? I can’t think of anything that ‘purple’ even sounds like!

OP posts:
wheresmyhairytoe · 19/04/2020 09:50

Careful?

wheresmyhairytoe · 19/04/2020 09:51

Have you told him to be careful over something so he thinks it relates to various objects?

DesiDiva2020 · 19/04/2020 10:00

Does his name sound like purple or to have two syllables?

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Behaviour & development Families
NewName54321 · 19/04/2020 10:05

Is it just his generic word for "that's something interesting that I don't know the word for and can't categorise".

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 19/04/2020 10:22

At least it’s not a case of him wanting something and you not understanding!

When dd1 was under 2 a friend with a dd the same sort of age came for lunch. All Ok until hers started asking for ‘pudding’.
We tried everything we could think of, yoghurt, fruit, etc., while the poor little thing was getting more and more distressed and frustrated, crying, ‘Pudding, pudding!’ over and over.

It seemed ages at the time, but eventually her mother twigged. There was a packet of cornflakes on a high shelf - those were her ‘pudding’.
Talk about phew!!

SomeoneElseEntirelyNow · 19/04/2020 10:44

Trouble, maybe? Or maybe it just feels nice to his mouth and his ears! So cute

bigbluebus · 19/04/2020 11:10

I remember my DS at this age used to say something which sounded like hatendada every time he pointed at something. It was said in a sort of surprised 'wow look at that' kind of way. We still laugh about it now and he's 23!

glitterbiscuits · 19/04/2020 11:24

I that it's careful
If you give him the ones he's telling you he will be careful

glitterbiscuits · 19/04/2020 11:25

Give him the pens (etc) not ones.

Idroppedthescrewinthetuna · 19/04/2020 11:38

Not sure, but it may not be anything that sounds like purple.
My DD used to say 'a bee' every dinner time. It took us a while to realise she was saying 'pudding'
She also said 'meeyaaw' in a siren type of way. She was saying 'dummy'

My eldest at 4 told me she had a rubben. She meant blister. She heard me say 'her shoes were rubbing' and thought a blister was a rubben.

How clear is the word he is saying. You may hear it as purple as that makes sense to you and your vocab. Is it more like perper, berple. Bubble? Table?

spiderlight · 19/04/2020 11:44

My first thought was 'bubble' as well.

I do feel your pain though! My DS went through a phase of calling everything 'reen' I was convinced it meant he was colour-blind and seeing everything as green, to the point where I demanded an ophthalmology appointment when he was 18 months old Blush It turned out that that was his first attempt to say his own name and he was showing me things and saying they were his.

BananaChocolateLump · 19/04/2020 11:46

My 2 year old says strawberry when she means drawing.

cheesegrate · 19/04/2020 13:28

This is a lovely thread!

My 20 month old has delayed speech and trying to decipher words can be a task!
"Gaga" is anything to do with Frozen (Elsa)
"Gigi/kiki" is monkey
"Gagago" is dinosaur which I only realised when he pointed one out after I wasn't understanding!

BalloonSlayer · 19/04/2020 17:04

My stepfather used to occasionally and randomly proclaim "Oongawa," or "Garam Masala," presumably because he liked the sounds of the words. He was in his forties.

(Oongawa was Tarzan's all-purpose word, in case you wondered.)

BirdieFriendReturns · 19/04/2020 17:06

Mine has a badge that sees ghosts.

nothingcanhurtmewithmyeyesshut · 19/04/2020 17:13

Could he be saying please or pass it? What do you say to him when you want something he has?

Original poster
Bienentrinkwasser · 19/04/2020 17:17

It’s definitely not his name, and he said ‘careful’ beautifully earlier so it’s not that. I’m no closer to an answer but I think he just likes it 😂 Weirdly, he does favour the purple pen!

OP posts:
Katinski · 19/04/2020 17:18

Grin @ Birdie

Ds - DS say 'break' - break
DS say 'broke' - broke
DS say 'brokEN' - PORSA! and collapsed into giggles

Even now in our house if something is broken we all say it's porsaGrin
And ds is in his 30s nowGrinGrinGrin

polkadotpixie · 19/04/2020 17:19

My 19 month old keeps saying 'Mimmit' when he wants something, no idea why!

Mmsnet101 · 19/04/2020 22:23

I have no idea OP but this thread just cheered me up. Actual tears of laughter shed. Thanks everyone! Grin

Ezira · 19/04/2020 22:33

They speak their own language! My DC spent weeks asking for a dolly. I offered loads of toys, none of which were the correct dolly. I was totally puzzled. Then one day we took Granny’s dog for a walk and DC exclaimed excitedly “Ahhh, Do-Le!” Yep, Do-Le was the dog lead.

NickMyLipple · 19/04/2020 23:00

My 2 year old is loving going to the greenhouse to water the 'cunts'.

And "that's it" is pronounced "shhiiittt".

So when I say "that's it for the plants"

Echoed back is "shit cunts".

voxnihili · 20/04/2020 05:17

My 20 month old DD also says purple - I have no idea what she wants. Her speech is pretty good and she can usually make herself understood but I’m at a loss with purple. It’s not peppa as she can say that (I was also adamant peppa wouldn’t be making it into our home but with working from home lately she’s found her way in!).

rosieposeydoll · 20/04/2020 06:18

I remember my DD saying Bahbooda for ages. We eventually worked out she meant Bob the Builder, there was (still is?) a large statue of him at Butlins in Minehead, and I think she wanted to go back there

AGoodPodcastAndANiceCupOfTea · 20/04/2020 06:32

@NickMyLipple my 2 year old stood in the lounge saying "vuk-u" over and over again amd we were horrified and we couldn't understand why until we realised that she was pointing at the Hoover! Now every time she sees it or we ask her to say vacuum she replies with "vuk-u". It makes me laugh way more than it should and it's definitely keeping her wider family very very amused over the video calls.