The Trouble With French Boots
I am not a big, boot person. I mean, I like boots for keeping my feet dry in the rain, or for trudging through the long Canadian winters, but that’s about where it ends for me. My son, however, has recently become infatuated with boots. Or, should I say, he has become infatuated with the word boots, in it’s French form.
Boots, In French = Bottes, which, to a 5 year old boy = Butts, which, of course = HILARIOUSNESS!
Unfortunately, the hilariousness does not stop there, because the word Butts is so funny that it can supplant almost any word in the English language. In fact, in some cases, it can replace the lyrics of an entire song. I give you Exhibit A, which is my son’s updated version of the classic, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”.
Butts, Butts, Butts, Butts, Butts, Butts, TOOTS!
Butts, Butts, Butts, Butts, Butts, Butts, TOOTS!
Butts and Toots and Butts and Toots,
Toots and Butts and Butts and Toots.
There was more to it, butt you get the point. In closing, if you really want to teach your 5 year old how to speak proper French, you may want to avoid the boots for a while. Also, just as an advanced tip, you may want to avoid the French word for Seal, altogether, as that tends to open up a whole other bag of worms, or sealing seals, as it were.
Hilarious story, thank you for sharing it! Teaching young children a new language does seem challenging, but at least it can be fun at the same time. It is great that your son with speak both of Canada’s official languages.
Good thing we’re too mature to laugh at butts.
*looks around*
*chuckles Beavis-ishly*
There are others out there wait until he learns the French word for pool!!! LOL
Just saying…Your Mommy
That’s so funny! My 5-year-old is learning French right now, too. But she hasn’t latched onto any words that can be translated into something else. Perhaps it’s a girl thing. Or maybe it’s just her. She takes her French very seriously.
Her 3-year-old brother on the other hand keels over laughing every time she says something in French that he doesn’t understand in French but can make into another word in English. Les bottes is one of those words. I refuse to teach them about animals who live in the north ;).
The little guy does the same thing in English, too. He has recently latched onto “poo poo slime”. No idea where he got it from, but every sentence ends with “poo poo slime”, (e.g., Can I have dessert and poo poo slime? I can’t wear my new socks. They’re poo poo slime.) unless he’s actually talking about poo and then he’s totally disgusted by the reference. Weird, eh?
Oh my gosh! My grade 1 students ALWAYS crack up when I teach them the French word for boots. It never fails. They still giggle well into grades 3 and 4. So yeah, I can totally relate.
LOL! Toooooo cute!!! You can tell him the “s” at the end of a noun in French is silent. Wait. That would still make it BUTT! Bwahahaha! Sorry!