Some times one can find huge coincidences and similarities between otherwise very different cultures and languages.

Photo by deiz92

(not my actual son) Photo by deiz92

Take for example, the oh-so delightful phenomenon where kids who are learning to speak, pronounce words in ways that make them sounds like profanity. You know, your beautiful child’s mouth innocently (and unwittingly) emitting R-rated epithets, much to the delight of your juvenile friends and YouTube followers.

But what is really mind-blowing to me is that such tricky words or concepts be the same in two very different languages.

For a couple of days now, I’ve been working with my automotively-obsesed boy to get him to learn the Spanish word for “truck”, which is “camión”. Maybe you see where I’m going with this: Many toddlers seem to have trouble with the word “truck” and end up pronouncing in a way that makes it sound like the infamous f-word. [CASE IN POINT – click here].

Well, my child’s pronunciation of the word “truck” is Shakespeareanly flawless. But wouldn’t you know it? Its Spanish equivalent, “camión”, when pronounced by my boy, sounds like “cabrón” (with apologies to my Spanish-speaking readers), which means something a bit more egregious than “a-hole”.

How is that for an argument for equality of all races and nationalities?

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