What was your first word? Chances are it was mama or papa, and for parents it’s always a favorite story to tell. But as toddlers start to develop their speech a little, some parents and family members like to have a little fun with them, and teach them to say random and ridiculous things.
It all started when Dutch Tumblr user Marina, AKA theoceanempress shared her story about the time she taught her little cousin to say ‘tax benefits.’ “It was a hilarious sight to see a little toddler waddling around the house, wearing a big diaper, all the while yelling “TAX BENEFITS!!!!” She said.
Cousin Lianne is now 15 years old and the story still comes up at every family meeting. “The actual word I taught her was “belastingvoordeel,” she told Bored Panda. “And that’s the word that keeps getting shouted randomly.” But why this word? “There’s a Spongebob episode where Spongebob said that word to sound more grown up, I think? I think in English, he said ‘tax exemption,’ but in the Dutch dub, he said ‘belastingvoordeel,’ which means tax benefits! So I thought it would be funny to teach it to my little cousin.”
People quickly jumped on the story to share hilarious examples of their own, as the post quickly went viral. Apparently trolling toddlers is a very popular thing to do. Teaching gnarly vocabulary is never a bad thing however, and planting linguistic seeds into the fertile brains of the young may one day bear rich lyrical fruit!
Scroll down to check out some of the responses for yourself and tell us, what are the funniest things you’ve heard come out of a toddler’s mouth? Let us know in the comments!
It all started when Tumblr user theoceanempress shared her story about the time she taught her little cousin to say ‘tax benefits’
Image credits: theoceanempress
People quickly jumped on the story to share hilarious examples of their own
Others were glad people shared such amazing stories and were sad they hadn’t thought of it sooner
