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March Slice of Life No. 22.

It was a nondescript day. EM and EN were playing within earshot of the discussion going on at the kitchen table, a discussion between their three older brothers and Mommy, a life science discussion, a discussion about taste buds.

Suddenly, EM wrinkles her nose and very loudly announces to EN and anyone else who might be listening: “Ewwww! Eat bugs! Ewwww!”

EN, in the even voice of one who knows all things, who knows more than his sister, corrects her, “EM, it’s not buGs. It’s buDs. Taste buDs.”

EM, in her thinking-voice, “Oh.h..h…h.”

It is doubtful that EM understands what taste buds are. But whatever taste buds might be, she’s figuring it has to be much better than taste bugs.

 

__________

 

What if … ?

What if EM’s misunderstanding had not been corrected by EN?

What if EM had connected that misunderstanding with a recent video of her uncle eating crickets in Mexico?


a platter of crunchy crickets

 


Some phonetics back knowledge

Notice similarities and differences of the two sounds.

buDs
/d/ — the phoneme spelled d in dot
Description of /d/ –voiced* alveolar* stop*
Sound is formed by tapping the tip of tongue to bony ridge behind top front teeth.
Quiet brother is /t/ articulated in same manner except without vibration (voice).

buGs
/g/ — the phoneme spelled g in gap
Description of /g/ — voiced* velar* stop*
Sound is formed by pulling tongue back and pushing the back of it up toward soft palate
Quiet brother is /k/, articulated in same manner except without vibration (voice)


* voiced = vocal cords are vibrated
* alveolar = pronounced with the tip of the tongue on the bony ridge behind upper front teeth
* velar = pronounced with the back of the tongue near the soft palate
* stop = a complete closure of the vocal tract to produce sound


More stories about words of my daughter’s children

Bugs don’t see in the dark . . . 

Spiders suck blood . . .

Life just got harder . . .

The no shot doctor . . .

Caught redhanded . . .

Talking crow . . .

 

 

 



Head over to
http://twowritingteachers.org
for more slice of life stories.
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