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?

You may be right! I’m not English but I live here and I’ve only seen it on mumsnet

My pet hates are: Dippy egg

Me too. What's so hard about saying egg and soldiers? Another pet hate is 'picky tea'.

YANBU. I'm a zoologist and have insisted that my children use the scientific name for all animals and plants since birth. Bos taurus looks far better on a Tshirt anyway.

if a kid was asking me for a butt-butt or a dum-dum, I am not sure I would translate that correctly

Oh give over and get a grip, of course you would. People are so bloody dramatic on here sometimes 🙄🙄

When DN first started going to nursery he came back suddenly saying cheers instead of thank you! He would also want to cheers at the table with a cup! I think that might be worse than ta

Even if you do use baby talk or different words for things, children learn fast, at least the smart ones do 😉 we would sometimes you different words for things bc it we thought it was cute and we wouldn’t correct our dd when she said things wrong as a two year old, bc again it was cute. But she quickly learned and we are told regularly by others about how she has such an amazing vocabulary (and she is also bilingual). I get why some people might not want to confuse dc or get annoyed by things. But kids pick up fast the correct way, at school, through reading or hearing you talk to other adults.

Ta is the one that sticks out in my mind.

It's not used around here at all, never heard it at groups with dd 2 but dc 1, I was in roaring chorus of tar ers

Yanbu I find moo cow, horsey etc very irritating and have always used the correct words with my dc. Don’t understand why people feel the need to use baby talk. Also really annoys me when people refer to themselves in the third person when talking to children (“mummy will help you” instead of “I will help you”) - why??

Don’t understand why people feel the need to use baby talk

I think it’s a natural urge.

Which stacks up because research demonstrates it’s beneficial for language development.

I agree with you OP. My DM was upset that I wouldn't let her teach my DD to call her dummy a "numnum" as that is what my DSis called it to her children. Why?? What is a "numnum"? It's a dummy! There were other words she tried to teach her that I wouldn't have but I can't remember them now (DD is now 9!).

I think it’s speaking with a higher pitch helps language development, not making up nonsense words?

No it’s ‘baby talk’ also. Apparently adding vowels (and particularly y sounds) at the end of words draws attention to the consonants and helps embed them.

Obviously broad paraphrasing there

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.mother.ly/scientific-benefits-baby-talk-2592128539.amp.html

Not much detail here, but as a starting point

I was never allowed to baby talk as a child. My mother would correct me ‘there is no such thing as a moo-moo, it’s a cow’ etc. I was considered ‘advanced’ at primary school in my vocabulary. I even corrected other children

I think it’s speaking with a higher pitch helps language development, not making up nonsense words?

If something is used in a given language to convey a specific meaning then it is by definition not a nonsense word. It is good for children's linguistic development to learn that there is often more than one word for the same thing and that different words are used in different settings, to (or by) different people and in different context.

My kids all learnt “ta” first. They now miraculously say thank you . They are frequently complimented on their impeccable manners. I think it was because it one of the first things they learnt as it was so easy to say.

I mean where would James Joyce have been if all he’d ever heard were the ‘proper’ words for things?

Baby talk has been proven to be beneficial to children. I am not convinced.
It seems more likely that "baby-talk" is more satisfactory to silly mothers, and of no benefit to the actual children.
How is "Choo-Choo" an easier word than "Train"?

My GD was saying ta at 7/8 months, never in a million years would she have said Thankyou. This morning I asked her mum if she would like a banana and she very proudly said nana. She is now 11.5 months now. She says lots of words, some clearly others not.
DILs sister has a baby three weeks older and is not allowed to use baby words but she can’t actually say anything. I would rather they were practicing sounds which is what they are doing when saying shorter words like ta. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like the word but can see the benefit of using it. She was saying dada when younger but now says daddy so they do progress using baby talk.

i am not convinced

Read some of the research and open your mind the teeniest bit.

Beware of confirmation bias and always question your assumptions.

HTH.

I've always taught my DC the 'proper' names. No 'moo cow' or 'geegee' (local slang for horse) etc from me.

I recently watched a YouTube video and the mother called sheep 'sheepies'..... I had to turn it off, it gave me rage

'I am not convinced.
It seems more likely that "baby-talk" is more satisfactory to silly mothers, and of no benefit to the actual children.
How is "Choo-Choo" an easier word than "Train"?'

It's all to do with how the mouth and tongue develop and using some sounds earlier gives access to further sounds later. For example I read the other day that making the -ee that parents and children add to mum (mummy) dad (daddy) dog (doggy) widens the hard palate enabling more speech sounds to develop as appropriate.

'Also really annoys me when people refer to themselves in the third person when talking to children (“mummy will help you” instead of “I will help you”) - why??'

Because you're teaching the child the names of their family members, and they learn to refer to themselves in the third person as their name before 'I' eg 'mummy do it, Josie do it', Josie learns ''Josie do it' well before 'I do it'.

I'm totally with you OP, it REALLY winds me up when people don't use the correct words with children.