Week 29: Bentley Continental GT

What a fine day to take the Bentley out for a drive.

Bentley - the sound of the word generates an image of wealth and luxury, even if you had previously never heard of the car.

Kid words often have that same effect -- even more, probably -- certain words a child says can create an entire background way beyond the word itself.

Four-year-old Racer A will often mispronounce horrible as horlible -- as in: "This dinner is horlible," or "My stomach huwts so much -- it's horlible!" Like a word from ancient Hebrew or Latin, no single word in English can truly capture all the meanings that horlible holds when I hear it, but I get. I speak his language.

Sometimes it feels like kid words are richer in meaning.

They feel more poetic.

Baby G, who turns two next month, loves joining in pretend games with his brothers. He will sometimes approach me, calling me Dadarobot. With that moniker, an entire world of play and imagination opens up for me -- it's the Bentley of imagination.

As adults, words such as scared, important, amazing, spooky, funny, and frustrated (fwust-er-rated) are so trite they hold onto their meanings like a fast-food counter employee holds onto job enthusiasm, but when a kid says them, they pop with life.

Kids polish old words simply by saying them until they shine, reflect, and make you want to hold onto them forever, which of course you can't. Words will always lose their luster with age.

But there is nothing like hearing old words from a new child to remind you of all the meanings those precious assembled groups of letters can really hold.

It's more of a rush than taking a Bentley out for a drive.


Poetic painting of a picture courtesy of Phil Pekarcik.


The Bentley Continental GT is part of the Matchbox 2010 VIP Rides collection.