To want my child to learn the proper words for things?

[AmIThough]

A friend offered to buy DC a top that says "ask me to see my moo cow" then if you lift the top there's a picture of a cartoon cow.

Crappy tat anyway but that's not the point.

I said no thanks, as I want DC to learn the proper words for things - I don't see why you would teach a child to call a cow a ' moo cow' or a frog a 'ribbit' (which is another example I've heard) rather than a cow or a frog.

I got told I'm a 'boring fart'.
What do you think? Am I being overly precious?

Having an issue with 'ta' is just pure snobbery. It's a perfectly reasonable word.

Ta isn’t a baby word. It’s a colloquialism. It’s specific to several regions of the country and certain heritages.

I like the term "tedious flatus", I'll be pinching that. 🤣

I'd say that you are overthinking this. When my three were babies and toddlers they had many concoctions for different words as they tried to learn them. By the time they went to school, or even to preschool, they were largely using the proper words. They called bananas bananas rather than nanas when out and about. Moo cows soon dropped the moo prefix. Etc. etc.

A few of these concoctions I think they actually made up themselves and we remember those affectionately in the family.

I must admit though that the kids and I still sometimes call bananas nanas. Yogurts were ogurts, and still sometimes can be. The dogs are also doggies and always have been. For some reason though the cat was never a catty. My youngest is 17 now.

We don't do it in public and know when and where to use the correct words.

Go for it.

Start using the Latin.

Vacca

Oh, and yes to "ta" being a regional colloquialism. It is a perfectly normal word for thank you where I grew up, although not one I tend to use.

"Ta duck" always meant "thank you dear/darling". It really depends where you come from how regularly these regional variations are used. Ta was never baby speak particularly, although much easier for them to say from an early age than thank you.

I think that putting your children in clothes which prompt strangers to ask them to lift their clothing is a bit weird

Yep. I don't care about moo cows when I think about this - quite creepy.

(I still blurt out moo cow myself occasionally but am otherwise v sensible)

Baby talk is fine. It is also the correct way to address dogs and cats.

I saw a kid in this t shirt last week and was absolutely baffled - it looks euphemistic... 😳

Always be correct with words with your children,it doesn't matter what others think. It will pay off in the long run,with their speech and understanding of words.

This is incorrect.

"Tedious Flatus" sounds like a genus and species.

"And here we have the common Tedious Flatus. It is known for proper English and reacts negatively to slang or baby talk. Please speak quietly and be cautious with your words and grammar when it is in the vicinity. We do not wish to provoke it"

I agree abut using the correct words with children learning to speak. But I do take offence to some of the PP's hatred of the word "ta". Round my parts you would be more likely to hear everyone (aged 0-90) saying ta than thank you. It's the go to saying when getting off the bus "ta drive".

I'm sure they're not going to say moo cow until they're 18

I’m an English teacher and even I’m not quite so pedantic with my DC.

Although the words that kids come up with themselves are my absolute favourites. The one I remember most fondly is DS calling his knee his "leg elbow"

I used baby talk with my son. He is a very intelligent 11 year old now who never uses baby talk. I strongly belive using it helped his understanding and vocabulary.

How ridiculous. Don't we all learn the proper words for things but many of us still use the nicknames at times? So will your child.

You've been ungracious about the offer from your friend.

Always be correct with words with your children,it doesn't matter what others think. It will pay off in the long run,with their speech and understanding of words.

This is very wrong. See ‘Purpose and Implications’ on this wiki. It basically corroborates what is published by more reliable sources.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_talk

I remember as a small child saying things like 'moo cow biscuits' (malted milks) and calling lambs 'baa lambs' and all manner.

I'm now in my 40s and have recently been measured as being in the UK's top 5 per cent for language use and comprehension.

So you probably don't need to worry.

The top does sound like tat though.

YABU and your snobbery is misplaced (although the top sounds hideous).

Onomatopoeic animal sounds are a very useful way for very small children to begin awareness of sounds, which leads to phonics, which leads to early reading.

As for ‘doggy’ etc: the additional vowel sound enables the child to hear the consonant sound of ‘g’ more clearly, as it is usually swallowed in everyday speech.

It's important to talk to your children, but when they are little, it doesn't matter what gibberish you come out with, as long as it's kind and you aren't swearing at them.

Babies (and pets) respond to raised pitch voices and exaggerated vowel sounds and so on. I know, I speak fluent baby (and cat).

www.washington.edu/news/2014/01/06/babbling-babies-responding-to-one-on-one-baby-talk-master-more-words/

“What this study is adding is that how you talk to children matters. Parentese is much better at developing language than regular speech, and even better if it occurs in a one-on-one interaction,” Ramirez-Esparza said.

Parents can use baby talk when going about everyday activities, saying things like, “Where are your shoooes?,” “Let’s change your diiiiaper,” and “Oh, this tastes goooood!,” emphasizing important words and speaking slowly using a happy tone of voice.

“It’s not just talk, talk, talk at the child,” said Kuhl. “It’s more important to work toward interaction and engagement around language. You want to engage the infant and get the baby to babble back. The more you get that serve and volley going, the more language advances.”

You've been ungracious about the offer from your friend.

It's funny the different responses you get on here. If I'd have said "I feel like I have to dress my child in this" everyone would say "grow a backbone, tell your friend you don't want it."

When my children were toddlers we used have toddler speak .... I would say goo goo ga ga ... and they would repeat it back to me. My husband used to think I was losing the plot but it was just a bit of fun and didn't affect their speech at all.

I've heard a woman at one of those kiddy farm things walking round and talking to her disinterested offspring about the barbers.

Well, at least she wasn't confused about which prefix indicates the absence of bias and which one has to do with not being interested, huh?

If you must mock other people's language, try not to get your own words mixed up.

Personally, I use daft words with toddler DD sometimes, and other times I tell her she's being a recalcitrant infant (because obviously it sounds like nonsense to her and she thinks it's funny). Talking to toddlers is great because you can say all sorts of shit.

I quite like the way you can almost sing "moo cow" to help emphasize the noise cows make.

Anyway, I was learning Italian recently and found "mucca" very easy to remember because it sounds a bit like moo cow. You never now when these things will come in handy. (pronounced like mooka in a southern English accent)

God yes, I mean it drives you nuts being at home with small children for long periods, I came out with all sorts of nonsense, often for my own entertainment as much as theirs. Putting a vest on them "Let's investigate." Taking a vest off "Allow me to divest you of that."