Rolling D's & T's

Rachel is doing this funny thing lately, she rolls her d's and t's. It is really odd and I can't figure out where she got if from. I have never heard anyone roll their d's or t's. R's, yes, but that's it. Michael says she's going to be a linguist. I am not sure why he thinks this, maybe rolling your d's and t's give you some competitive edge in becoming a linguist? And while I'm on the subject, is this a field where you need a competitive edge? I'll have to ask my friend, Holly, she's a linguist, or at least was in a past life. She was a Russian linguist for the US Army. And she's the smartest woman that has ever lived on the face of the Earth. Though she would disagree (she is also the most humble woman who has ever lived on the face of the Earth). So I'll just say that she's the smartest woman that I have ever known that has lived on the face of the Earth. She may even be the smartest person, but I'm not sure as her husband is the smartest man that I have ever known. And that's not to say that he's smarter than she is, I just don't know. But I'm curious now, maybe I'll challenge them to have some kind of mental arm wrestling match so that we can find out.

Okay, so back to my little linguist, since this is really about her. First, only the d's or t's in the middle of the word roll. For example, she says "Daddddy" or "kittttty", though this visual does it no justice. The sound is really quite lovely, not choppy at all like when I try to mimic her. It is like listening to a Spaniard speak in the proper Castilian dialect, it flows beautifully. And she talks like this all day long. But the funny thing is, if I TRY to get her to do it, as in, "Hey, listen to this...Rachel, say kitty", she'll then say, "kitty", plain Jane version. "Rachel, say Daddy". "Daddy". No lovely flowing rolls. It's Murphy's Law. I am convinced that old Murphy was a father. He must have been because Murphy's Law never applies so well as during parenthood. In fact, Murphy's Law is to parenthood as french fries are to hamburgers. They just go together.

So there you have it. Rolling d's and t's, but only when nobody cares if they roll. Courtesy of our frustrating, talented, beautiful, witty pint-sized linguist. And with that, I'll say, "Goodddddnight".