Soon he came upon a peasant singing and scything. ‘You there, varlet,’ said Shrek. ‘Why so blithe?’” – William Steig, “Shrek”
“Shrek” inspired me to let the words fly around my children. Nope, I’m not talking about the movie “Shrek”, but about William Steig’s wonderful picture book “Shrek.” And I’m not talking about using curse words around my children, but about using a more sophisticated vocabulary in ordinary conversation.
The vocabulary in “Shrek” is extravagant. It’s so baroque that I did some research to find out why Steig had included phrases like “shady copse,” “churlish knave,” “rosy wens,” and “fusty fens.” Had he picked words at random from a dictionary and challenged himself to work them into his story? Did he have pet underused words that he was determined to bring back into favor? (I myself have waged a losing campaign to popularize “chirk.”)
Or had it been the product of a bet? Dr. Seuss wrote his masterpiece “Green Eggs and Ham” using just 50 different words, after his publisher, Bennett Cerf, bet him $50 that he couldn’t compose a book with such a limited vocabulary. (The words? A, am, and, anywhere, are, be, boat, box, car, could, dark, do, eat, eggs, fox, goat, good, green, ham, here, house, I, if, in, let, like, may, me, mouse, not, on, or, rain, Sam, say, see, so, thank, that, the, them, there, they, train, tree, try, will, with, would, you.)
But while I couldn’t find an explanation for Steig’s flamboyant vocabulary, I was inspired by his example — and by my daughters’ unquestioning acceptance of his range — to use more sophisticated vocabulary when talking to children. It made me realize that I’d unconsciously been simplifying my language, even though my daughters were perfectly able to handle words like “nacreous,” “nonplussed,” “ambivalent” and “palanquin.”
It’s a Secret of Adulthood: If we can express ourselves precisely, we can think precisely, and I want my children to be able to think as precisely as possible. Plus, it was hilarious to hear a 2-year-old use the word “unwieldy.”
Do you tailor your vocabulary to your children’s age? (Special case: do you use curse words in front of them?)