G is constantly striving to make new mental connections. It’s very visible with the words and phrases she slots, with ever-increasing accuracy, into contexts she thinks we’ve used them in. Small kids are such earnest and industrious learning machines, it’s incredible. To me, in any case, an adult who hasn’t spent a lot of time with kids.
Currently, G believes that we often have small orange fruits called “clemons” in the house, which share some properties with “lemons,” but aren’t yellow and are round, and are more easily peeled and eaten. It’s hard to convince her that they’re really called clementines, because when we say it, we’re clearly announcing that it’s “clemon time!”
I found some evidence of another ambiguity in G’s verbal world, which I have recorded for posterity. I like to try to imagine the conversation between F and G that preceded this.
