Confused? Let’s Ask The Magic Ate Ball

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“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw

Thirty or more years ago, my friend’s mom successfully saved her friend from choking one night at a restaurant. Many times she’s proudly recounted the story of saving a life by using the Heineken remover technique.

It doesn’t matter the number of times her son has told her that it’s the Heimlich maneuver. She sticks to her version of the name because she likes it better. And no, her friend wasn’t choking on a Heineken at the time.

Hearing that story reminds me of the delightful things we get wrong. My son, six-year-old Mr. D calls the pamphlet included with products to show us how to assemble them constructions. And that makes a lot of sense.

He also likes it when we all cuzzle up on the couch. Since Cooper the dog is often involved, this combo of cuddle and nuzzle is pretty apt.

When ten-year-old Miss O was two or three, she called the colander the homey hokey. The Magic Eight Ball was the Magic Ate Ball and we didn’t even know we thinking about it as different things.

As I kid, I thought I heard my dad tell me that brown fuzzy creatures were called Mormons. That made it confusing the first time I met a kid that was a practicing Mormon because I wondered if they worshipped brown fuzzy creatures. Come to find out, those are marmots.

Communicating is hard. It’s amazing we ever get our point across.

Do you have some favorite words in your history or lexicon?

(featured photo is from Pexels)

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61 thoughts on “Confused? Let’s Ask The Magic Ate Ball”

  1. My oldest daughter replaced banana with bazah for a while. Of course, adults often use real words and still can’t communicate. Here is a tip. Don’t ask people if they understand you. Instead, ask them to describe what they think you said.

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  2. First of all, I love that GB Shaw quote as it is so true. Thanks. Your examples of misunderstandings are so funny. Here’s another one. My then 10-year-old daughter came home from school all excited. Apparently, there was a disease going around the school, and the children were not to wear each other’s hats or use each other’s combs. The disease was called “head lights”!! We laugh about that one to this day.

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  3. Hilarious Wynne! I think my kids have all had their words. The one that still stands out for me is Jeff trying to say chipotle. It always came out sounding like chip-lloyd. We still remind him of that when we can.

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  4. What a perfect quote!

    To this day, we are not positive where my youngest got “pakopee” for cereal. The closest I can come is he was trying to say Rice Crispies…

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  7. The Mormon anecdote made me laugh out loud. It’s funny the things we are told and how we translate the message and then share the message. Communications is most certainly key in all stages and areas of life!

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  9. Even when we get the words right, we often define them slightly different or hold them in differing emotional contexts. I’ve been with my husband almost 50 years and we are in close miscommunication daily lol

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  10. When I was young, I’d see commercials for Les Schwab Tires on the Washington State channels. I’m Canadian, and we learn French, so my brain read it as “les Schwab” (the Schwab). My parents howled when I asked them about it.

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  11. Oh my goodness…fun on top of fun…on top of fun! I honestly can’t think of a better way to describe a colander — go Miss O — and your fun memory of the marmot/Mormons is hilarious. Love it!
    The first thing that came to mind was a dear old woman whom we called Grandma but she was just a sweet family friend and with her twangy southern-ish accent in, she referred to crackers (saltines, Triscuits, any type) as “clahckers”. No one ever corrected her and I don’t know if she knew she was putting her own spin on the word but every now and then I summon her when I reach for a Cheez-it. Not a cracker…only a clahcker! 😜💝😜

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  12. Heineken remover! 😂 Years ago, my niece who was in kindergarten at the time told us she wanted to take her furnace to school. My sister and I gave each other a puzzled look. When we asked her to explain, she said “My furnace. You know. That thing that keeps soup hot.” Ahh. The Thermos!

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  13. The Mormon/marmot mix-up is so funny! I can’t think of many off-hand, but my brother called my “win-win” for years because he couldn’t pronounce Erin lol!

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  14. What a fun post. My kids did have funny words, too. My daughter said “Lallo” for yellow. My mom ordered chile rellenos all the time and insisted on misproniuncing it chili relano no matter how many times I told her the correct pronunciation. I always called the Heimlich manuever the Heimlich remover.

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      2. Oh the best one, in my humble opinion, is my son called me “sweetheart” at age three because he thought it was my name. That’s because it’s what my husband called me 💕

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  15. Apparently when I was little, I couldn’t pronounce “grandma,” so both my grandparents were called Gogi. This lasted into adulthood; it was always fun to call my 95 y/o grandmother Gogi when I was well into my 40s myself!

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  19. During covid, my mom started calling those face coverings we wore masts. We tried several techniques to make her understand that they were actually called masks, but she’s stayed with mast even today. 😁

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  20. I have always loved puns and wordplay and happy “word combo” accidents like you reference here. They make my day. “Constructions” is brilliant! I mean it makes total sense. And those darn Mormon marmots. 😊 So good! Thanks, Wynne for a great smile to kick off Tuesday.

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  24. I think the maneuver should be called the “Heineken remover technique” from now on. It sounds so much better. I have heard way too many people calling a religious “chaplain” a “chaplin.” I think there is a big difference between the two. 😂

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  26. “And no, her friend wasn’t choking on a Heineken at the time.” Laughing and sooooo true about communication. Just had an argument with one of my daughters about why grandma should not get a self driving Tesla.. oh if you could have been there.. I surrendered but getting ready for some new ammo to send her.. lol 😂

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  27. I love the opening quote, and this post made me laugh. I put acorns in my plants to check the moisture and call them “dehydrators.” Everyone in my house has used that term for years—it’s a running joke.

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