Kym: ‘Baba bear, why do we say, “write a mail” and not “type a mail” when we are not really writing, but typing?’
Me: ‘Ummm, I have no clue. Maybe it comes from the time people wrote letters using a pen and paper.’
Kym: ‘Is the email a letter?’
Me: ‘You can call it that. Sure.’
<Silence>
Kym: ‘Baba bear, if I want to say some other word instead of “very” for happy, what can I use?’
Me: ‘Happy to help. You can use “ecstatic”, “excited”, “gleeful”, “overjoyed”, “thrilled”, and some more. Here are the spellings.’
Kym: ‘Why do they have so many words for one word?’
Me: ‘That is how language is. You’ll know someday how to use all these words to write well.’
Kym: ‘I don’t write well?’
Me: ‘You do, but language is about more than just conveying a thought; it is about conveying an emotion. And doing it elegantly and efficiently. More words for the same thing but with slightly different meanings help.’
Kym <moodily>: ‘OK. I still don’t get it though. But I have a question, Baba bear: Why does “racecourse” have a “u” in it?’
Me: ‘Frankly, I don’t know why any word has a “u” in it.”
Kym: ‘Baba bear, isn’t English a funny language?’
Me: ‘Yep. English is indeed a funny language.’
Kym: ‘Why don’t adults laugh when they speak English then?’
Me: ‘Adults laugh very little anyway. Also, have you seen the people who invented their language?’
Kym: ‘Meaning?’
Me: ‘The English people are those that live in England. Remember when we went to London 3 years ago with Ajoba and Aji? They invented English. They are a very serious people, not given to much laughter.’
Kym: ‘You mean the Queen?’
Me: ‘Something like that.’
<Silence>
Kym: ‘And Paddington bear?’
Me <having visions of HRH Elizabeth and Paddington sitting together inventing words>: ‘Not really. But that’s an interesting thought.’
Kym: ‘May I have some strawberries and vanilla ice cream?’
Me: ‘Now, you are talking!’
Kym: ‘Of course, I am talking, you silly bear!’
Me: ‘No no, what I meant was an idiom, like a common saying in English.’
Kym <murmuring to herself>: ‘English is a funny language.’
