When Isaac wants to know what something is, he says, "Don't know what that ___ is." He fills in the blank with phrases like yellow thing, loud noise, or purple flower. He has never directly asked, "What's that?"
Variations on the theme include statements like "Don't know who that man is," "Don't know what kind truck that is," "Don't know what that woman doing," and "Don't know what ___ means." (He hasn't yet gotten to "Don't know why," so I don't have to explain why the sky is blue or why people don't have tails.)
This morning we were in the car, leaving the house a little late to meet friends at the zoo, when I remarked that I would have to keep my telephone handy. "Don't know what tele means," Isaac said.
At first I said, "I think it means to talk," but then I remembered telegram and telegraph. "No, it can't mean literal talking, so maybe it means to metaphorically speak, to communicate. And I'm pretty sure it's Greek." Then I thought to myself, "Gosh, this seems precocious, doesn't it -- his already getting into Greek and Latin roots? I'm going to have to read up on it myself, since I never studied it in school."*
About five minutes later we drove past a dump truck, and Isaac said, "Don't know what dump means," and my dreams of studying dead languages faded. He certainly does know what dump means, but I did my best to define it anyway. Then, a few minutes after that, we drove into a tunnel.
"Don't know what tun means," Isaac said, and I had to agree with him.
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*Clearly I never studied it, as my definition was wrong -- tele means distance. But at least it is Greek.
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