In Life, the Universe and Everything, Douglas Adams
In Manu’s own life, universe and everything, there are times when he says inappropriate things, and when berated for those indiscretions, turns things around so completely, that the situation can only be described by a unique term, drawn from Adams ’ work, that I’d like to call Linguipriversexclusion. Though that doesn’t mean the phenomenon is unique. It is not, most certainly not, and if you’re a parent, you’ve experienced this before, or definitely will at some stage.
Here are a couple of examples to illustrate, and I put these down only because they’re the funniest of the lot. Also, note that we speak a lot of Tamil at home. Relevant Tamil words are italicised and [transliterated in parenthesis].
Case in point #1 – Pesticide
A couple of weeks back, I was putting Manu to bed. It was past his bedtime and, as is his wont, he did something (can’t remember what) that resulted in further delay. I said I’ll call in the Aanai Cat if he continued to do whatever it was, when he said, “You will buy a hit from me”, which I assume to be the equivalent for “[Nee en-kitte adi vaanguve]” in Tamil, meaning “You will get hit by me”. Angry, I sternly asked him if he could say such things.
Linguipriversexclusion (translated): I did not mean that hit. I meant the Hit that you use on mosquitoes. Or if you want, I’ll give you a herbal mosquito repellent. These last three words he read off a can of the stuff that was on the bedside table!
Case in point #2 – Nouvelle cuisine?
Usual altercation with Manu, and he said [Po-da] to me. Once again, I asked him if he could use such language.
Linguipriversexclusion (translated): I did not say [Po-da]. I said “Po-da-v”. It is a dish that Amma makes. She makes it only for me, so you don’t know about it.
Experienced parents, please tell me – what more do I need to prepare for?
* for another use of this term, see here.
