Children, with their limited language skills, still manage to bridge that gap - when they want to describe or explain something new or unusual to them - by wonderfully simplifying both thought and wordage.
A St. Louis elementary school teacher named David Harvey coined a name for this - youngsterisms. He once illustrated these by writing about some of the answers he got on a quiz about Christmas.
Observations concerning Christmas trees brought these comments:
"A star is for living in Heaven when it is not for wearing in a Christmas tree's hair."
"Needles are found in both pin cushions and Christmas trees."
"Pine trees are not the only Christmas tree. Christmas grows on many kinds of trees."
And "Pine trees give us Christmas and turpentine."
"I was thinking all pine trees were small enough to take into the house and put Christmas decorations on. When I learned different, all the thoughts I was going to say went in a swallow down my throat."
Christmas carols sometime get a bit mangled, he found, recited as "Round John Virgin", "partridgenapur tree", "onion version, Mother and Child...Sleep in half and in peace" and the shepherds who "fell on their faces and were sore afterward".He learned "the lyrics of White Christmas are what Irving Berlin wrote as well as the words." And discovered why one moppet's favorite was "Old Cumalye, Faithful". Who was Old Cumalye? Jesus' dog, of course. He did attempt to correct the singer of "We three kings safari ain't are, bearing gifts we trap us a fire".But when he mentioned those words didn't make sense, the singer replied, I know. But it rhymes and things that rhyme don't have to make sense."
The term Xmas was explained as "10 Xmases equal one Christmas". And he learned "There is no such thing as a humbug, but it is old and grouchy when there is."
Several boys had their own takes on Christmas mistletoe, or "kisseltoe" as one called it: "Mistletoe means watch out for slobbery girls," and. "A good thing to remember about Christmas is standing under the mistletoe is don't."
