Saturday 8 May 2010

Babelfish

Haaai’ she says, if you haven’t shoved your face in front of hers in a while.

That’s ‘Hello’ to you and me. Not so much a welcoming hello but edging more towards that sarcastic fake teeth filled smiley hello that groups of girls use amongst themselves on a night out.

Eh’ is her ‘Meh’. She usually rolls this one off in conjunction with a sigh and a scornful glance before turning her head in the opposite direction. To be interpreted in no other way than ‘you haven’t amused me with that sound or stupid face, so piss off’.

A very pitiful sounding ‘Mmmboo’ means she’s knackered. Stop trying to keep her awake as she’s flat out exhausted and things will only deteriorate rapidly until you ensure that she finds herself in a prime position to have an uninterrupted snooze. ‘Mmmboo’ is often joined by sad baby face.

Like many Dutch words, her ‘Ngong’ has a couple of meanings. Namely ‘give me a bottle now’ and ‘I’m about to scream my head off through starvation’. Take the bottle from her mouth mid-feed and you are likely to be bombarded with a string of ‘Ngong ngong ngong’s.

'Nnngh, nnngh, nnngh’ is especially for me. When it is accompanied with a frown and a reddening face literally translates to ‘Daddy quick! Make an excuse to leave me with Mammy because I’m in the process of filling this nappy with something that will turn you off your lunch.

Gaaaaaaah ef ef ef muhm muhm aaaheeuw’ highlighted with two big headlamp eyes almost certainly means, ‘Please go read this. Please, please, please help daddy help that big sweaty Englishman raise funds for a trust that helps families who have lost children. Normal families just like yours, or your neighbour’s, or your friends, who face financial difficulties during the darkest times they are likely to face. You can help someone simply by donating any amount at all here.

She may sound a wee bit pushy, but she has a point.


17 comments:

Tara R. said...

Your little lady has a lot to say, and is very eloquent.

Anonymous said...

I had so wanted to come to the walk, but work and life got in the way. I'm sabing for mext year, though. Little one should be understandable by then . . .

Kalei's Best Friend said...

when my daughter was a few months old she babbled too... i called it her 'ewok talk'... she sounded just like one.. In fact her sister who was 3 could understand every 'word' she said... the oldest was her interpreter for awhile....can't remember how long, but thank G. she was there.

Hockeymandad said...

You need a new translator. She was asking you for money, and if you were keeping up her savings account with daily deposits.

Also, she wants a car. Red with leather and a sporty engine. If a Ferrari is not available, a Maserati will do fine.

Sheesh man, you better learn that language soon.

Ms. Moon said...

Baby-speak. They teach us their tongue.

Dan said...

I like what she's saying. Apart from the sweaty remark.

geeks in rome said...

gtork! that means "I did, kid!" in Mango talk :)

Anonymous said...

Gee, I didn't realize that you and mommy spoke Dutch fluently...how cool is it that she will be TRI-lingual???

You need to know that she is really doing some amazing babbling at this relatively early age...a pretty precocious little lady (I'm a Speech therapist, so I know of these things :P ) Do enjoy every little oikie you get...you won't believe how quickly they turn into real words and then she is off and running (at the mouth, that is)...then you'll really get an earful, daddy!

Ed said...

Just like a woman -- now that she's started, she'll never stop. Unless you do what she says.

Veronica Foale said...

Isn't it lovely when you can work out what they're saying? Even nicer when they develop a social conscience. Heh.

River said...

She's so very verbal. Kudos to you for being able to understand her. I had to keep guessing what my littlies wanted until the day they spoke complete sentences at me.

Sniffle said...

Ngong - plays for Liverpool and by playing I mean disappoints regularly in a way that she will never.

James (SeattleDad) said...

She has got the knack for that sort of thing already. Do they sell girl scout cookies there?

areyoukiddingme said...

Buy some earplugs now. By the time she's 3, you'll be running away from the never-ending chatter! But it's nice that she's developed her social conscience already!

gail said...

So when is the camcorder coming out so we can see all this ourselves?

Unknown said...

Oh and 'Im - ba-ack!'

Get your backside over to my new blog amd say hello.

Martin said...

@Tara R. - Mais Oui!

@tysdaddy - who knows!

@Chrissy - funny!

@Hockeymandad - thats her mothers list I think

@Ms. Moon - recrd it and play it back later to aee if they recognise it?

@Dan - out of the mouths of babes...

@geeks in rome - She said to say thanks! ;-)

@hotmamamia - I think 'fluently' may be over stepping the mark ;-)

@Ed - the voice of experience

@Veronica - gotta start somewhere!

@River - hahaha

@Jo - :-P

@Sniffle - and she's a better finisher too.

@James (SeattleDad) - anything needing a uniform for kids is a no-no here!

@areyoukiddingme - a wee Bono!

@gail - maybe when the hadrians walk donation reach a more satisfactory mark ;-)