Why do people use quotation marks when they talk about their kids sometimes. For example, my seven-year-old daughter loves to arm wrestle with me. A lot of grown-ups would still say that my seven-year-old daughter is “strong “. Why wouldn’t I just say that my daughter is strong? There is no sarcasm at all in what was being said, my daughter is actually strong. Also, why do people put the words for a kid after their sentences. For example, my four-year-old daughter likes to have races with me down the hall. A lot of adults would say that my toddler runs fast, for a kid. Another example would be when roughhousing with my seven-year-old, she puts up a good fight, for a kid. Also a kid flexes their arms and say something like, i’m going to take you down, or, when their child stands next to them and says that they are really tall, the grown-up will respond with, OK, sure, kid? For example if my seven year-old one during our roughhousing match, and she says, I won, I won, why would I respond with, OK, sure, kid? also I know this part below isn’t English related, but I still wanted to ask. let’s say your parents and your teen siblings (at least, my young kids have teen siblings) were simply just standing next to you, or one of them walks up to speak with you, or they both hold your hand or pick you up to take you somewhere. To a child or toddler, how are the adults/teens seen as super huge and super strong? Apparently it can still be overwhelming, why is this?
Both of these are because the terms are relative. She's "strong" for a kid, because she's probably not in comparison to an adult. Well, that's just down to the person talking. Not everyone does this. They're humouring the child or may have other motivations.
on the first what nao sais she's 'strong' because she's strong for a 7 year old, she's not strong in objective terms on the second 'okay sure kid is like 'if you say so', she's saying something that's patently not true but they humour her because she little instead of pointing out that she didn't win
But that’s where I’m confused because my daughter is strong. My toddler is fast when we race. Also can you explain the bottom part of the post the last paragraph? I’m confused how that is so. My example of Play fighting with my seven-year-old, why would my response be, OK, sure, kid. If she says that she won? I’m not really trying to be funny and make her laugh, she did win.
what exactly are you mean by this? Because when I’m on wrestling with my seven-year-old, she is actually strong. Same thing when my toddler wants to have a race, she is actually fast.
Shes strong/fast whatever for a kid... no seven year old or toddler is strong or fast in adult terms - an average adult woman in good health can bench 70lbs, are you really saying your 7 year old kid regularly does more than that ? Any reasonably fit adult can walk faster than a 2-3 year old can 'run' (quote marks because kids don't start to run properly until they aren't toddlers any more), if the adult is running too there's no contest at all...if your toddler is genuinely faster than you, either they are some kind of prodigy or you're incredibly slow. She won because you let her win, a toddler or seven year old couldn't really beat an adult wrestling if the adult wanted to win
my seven-year-old couldn’t even come close to lifting 70 pounds. But what does that have to do with anything? She is still strong. What does me walking have to do with my toddler? She is still fast. it would be the same thing if I was to measure my seven-year-old’s height. Why would I say she is “tall”? Because she is tall.
I think you may have to agree to disagree with the ironic use of quotes in this case, as it's very common in language. I will say that the ironic quote usage is probably inappropriate when talking about a kid because the context is implied. A kid who is described as tall, fast, or strong is understood to be so in relation to other kids. You don't need quotes to clarify that a tall seven year old isn't 6 foot 4 or anything.
your kid is strong compared to other kids, shes potentially tall compared to other kids...shes not however strong or tall compared to an adult.. your toddler is fast for a toddler, not compared to an adult - or a speeding bullet hence why people use quote marks and say things like 'sure buddy you won' which answers the question you asked. If however you want to argue about how these things shouldn't apply to your kids , you've missed the point of the site - this here is a writers forum, this is where we talk about writing...if you want to brag about how special your kids are mumsnet is over there as are reddit and facebook
its also not just limited to kids, if i say my car was 'expensive' I'm saying the 500 quid was expensive considering its held together with duct tape and good will. If i say my car was expensive - i just replaced the old wreck with a Ferrari thousand of other examples in everyday usage. the speech marks imply either irony or that you're speaking comparatively rather than objectively
I'm afraid I can't answer this. I'm not a child psychologist, and it's been a long time since I was a child, so I don't really remember. I should point out, as moose has above, this isn't really for place for this kind of question. We're writers, we use written language in particular ways to convey a particular effect. These are questions of psychology, not writing.
If you're talking about written dialog, I think that when you use quotes, you're putting a spin on the word, suggesting that it really isn't about what you think it's about. "He's a 'brilliant' guy" implies to me that he's not really as smart as he thinks he is, or as other people think he is. If you're using it as true dialog, as in a screen play, I guess you'd have to do it with the "finger quotes" where you draw a quotation mark with two fingers of each hand as you say the word.
