Using the word "baby" without the article (FAO: Lira)

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-- Using the word "baby" without the article (FAO: Lira)

Posted by Vector A on Dec-05-2019 14:10:

Using the word "baby" without the article (FAO: Lira)

This may be the most rage-inducing language tic I have ever seen.

"How is baby doing?"
"How many hours should baby be sleeping?"
"Is baby happy today?"

Anyone else hate this?

Found an article on it: https://slate.com/human-interest/20...mined-baby.html

My wife and I are trying to have kids so I have been reading stuff with this usage more often than I otherwise would.

Posted by Silky Johnson on Dec-05-2019 14:22:

Agree. Hate it. And hate all forms of speaking to and about children in babyish language.

I met with a home daycare provider back when we needed someone to cover the gap til our kid was old enough for Montessori, and when I put my daughter down to interact with this broad, she handed her a toy and said "TA TA?" TA TA? My child is Canadian and we speak English, speak fuckin English to her, ffs.

Funnily enough, we ended up finding a Russian lady to take care of her. Hahahahaha.

Also, congrats and good luck!

Posted by planetaryplayer on Dec-05-2019 18:06:

How is babby formed

Posted by on Dec-10-2019 03:20:

Nobody puts Baby in a corner!

Posted by Dykes_on_Jay on Dec-12-2019 20:50:

quote:
Originally posted by Jon_Snow
Nobody puts Baby in a corner!

Because it makes it harder for you to remove the diaper in confined spaces?

Posted by Silky Johnson on Dec-12-2019 21:02:

LOL

Posted by Lira on Feb-05-2020 05:17:

Re: Using the word "baby" without the article (FAO: Lira)

Oh, hi! Sorry it took me this long to see the thread, but here we go!

quote:
Originally posted by Vector A
Anyone else hate this?

Your hatred is entirely justified, and for a very good reason.

The word "babe" kind of shares the same origin as the word "barbarian", because they refer to foreigners and toddlers as creatures that just... babble ("Babel" has nothing to do with it, in case you're wondering). Now, "barbarian" sounds a lot more interesting in my opinion because it features more than just a sequence of consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel - it has extra consonants, an adjectival ending, and possibly an axe. "Babe", on the other hand, is not even beautiful in its simplicity, it's so dumb it got superseded by its diminutive form. Yeah, "baby" is just a small "babe". It sounds dumb by default, which makes the perfect solution I'm about to present go bust.

The thing is, we can't call toddlers "fartboxes" without some thorough explanation, so I'm afraid we're stuck with the word "baby" for now. And then, your gripe. Keep in mind I'm being speculative here, because I had never heard of this use before I stumbled upon your post, but I think it's an instance of grammaticalisation, not baby talk.

Speakers have a tendency to make up grammatical distinctions on the fly if they make meaning more transparent, and then they become fossilised in the language. That's how grammatical genders and pronouns come about, and I'm afraid this could be a similar case in its infancy, for the lack of a better word.

In English there's no obvious ending to verbs and adjectives to make it obvious who you're talking about - you have to rely on the pronoun. And, because babies can be a bit less obvious regarding their gender because it's pretty damn tricky sometimes, saying "when can baby go?" (obviously the toddler) rather than "when can (s)he go?" ((s)he who?) can be more elucidating.

Asian languages, which lack similar morphology, turn this into an art form. I'd have to look into it, but this would be my initial hypothesis.

Posted by itsamemario on Feb-06-2020 22:37:

Posted by Vector A on Feb-17-2020 16:18:

Re: Using the word "baby" without the article (FAO: Lira)

quote:
Originally posted by Vector A
My wife and I are trying to have kids

If everything goes according to plan our son should be born in early August.

Anatomy scan coming up in a couple weeks.

Posted by Silky Johnson on Feb-17-2020 16:20:

Yay! Very exciting!

Posted by planetaryplayer on Feb-17-2020 17:03:

Re: Re: Using the word "baby" without the article (FAO: Lira)

quote:
Originally posted by Vector A

Anatomy scan coming up in a couple weeks.

Don�t sell your scan to Jon snow

Posted by StereoPrincess on Feb-18-2020 20:41:

Lol. My kid's got a name.

I also have a name.

The nurses at the NICU keep calling me "mummy".

How is mummy today?
Hi mummy.
How you doing mummy.

I got a name yo!

Posted by Vector A on Feb-20-2020 14:11:

My wife and I gave our developing child the temporary name "Gerald" so we could avoid using just "the baby" during the pregnancy.