While adults are perfectly able to communicate what they are feeling, children have difficulty doing so. Thus arises the need to understand childish slang. However, childish slang is a whole other language of exaggerated emotions and expressions that often mean something innate.
To understand what is really bad in childish slang, we must know the different ways the term is expressed.
Let’s discuss the key phrases used by children and how different phrases can mean different intensities of bad when children express them.
Basics of Childish Slang
From common terms such as “boo boo” and ouchie, we can understand that most childish slang is pure gibberish. That is precisely what it’s supposed to be, and most parents promote it nevertheless as it gives the kids an outlet for their emotions.
Here are some features that can help us understand the basics of childish slang:
- Parents must remember that their children have vocal and vocabulary limitations
- Most childish slang is phonations and sounds produced with certain tones
- The tone helps us understand the intended emotion behind the phrase
- Many children depend primarily on their basic sounds to produce such phrases
- The sound “Buh” is the most common first sound kids produce
- They can then build on it to say boo boo to express they got hurt
- Similarly, really bad is built up from basic key sounds and expressions
- Phrases like yucky and “blech” come from the most basic expressions and sounds like “ee” and “blah”
Common phrases to express “really bad” in childish slang
| Phrase | Example Sentence |
| Stinky | That movie was stinky! |
| Yucky | My broccoli is yucky! |
| Awful | I had an awful day at school. |
| Gross | Don’t touch that, it’s gross! |
| Boo-boo | I fell and made a boo-boo. (boo-boo can also mean a mistake) |
| The pits | That test was the pits! |
| Crappy | I feel crappy today. |
| Bummer | It’s a bummer we can’t go to the park. |
| Lame | That joke was lame. |
The Development of Childish Slang
In children under 2 years
Children usually have a proper grasp of any language by the age of 4-5 years, before that, they start by forming basic words combined with gestures to communicate. Such is an example for children below 2 years of age, where the most words they can communicate are half-formed words.
For the most part, children at this age will express something as bad by facial expressions. Pouting, puffing face, grimacing, or scrunching the whole face. This is often accompanied by the words No No, or Bleh, or in children reaching 2 years, formed words like Bad or Yuck or No Like in broken sentences are seen.
From 2-5 years
At this stage, children can form complete sentences. Here comes the truly dramatic expression of words.
From saying things like Mega Yucky and Super Duper Bad, to the extreme drama we all find cute, like “this is just awful” and “this is exasperating”, I’m sure we all remember that video of the kid using this phrase!
Kids of this age are sound enough to use sentences more than they use expressions, this way they can communicate with the adults better. For example, a 5-year-old will most probably use the words Horrible or Worst Thing Ever to describe some experience, more than a 3-year-old would.
Above 5 years
For most children, after the age of 5, their language is developed enough for the childish slang to end and they are able to converse like an adult.
Some aspects of childish slang may be retained well into adolescence. For example; saying “it’s really blech” instead of “really bad” is a common phrase even for teenagers. This tells us that some part of our childhood never goes away and that some vocal habits do not change at all.
Is childish slang a good thing?
While some parents may argue that childish slang can lead to the immature development of language in a child, it is a well-researched fact by language specialists and psychologists who understand speech theory better than most, that a child must be able to communicate their emotions.
Whether it’s through simple gestures, basic sounds, or complex words. You can’t expect a kid to have the fluency and elegance of an adult’s spoken language. So the common consensus on whether childish slang is good or bad, is that it is a healthy outlet for children to begin to grasp any language.
Most of the language an adult speaks is formed from slang they used as a child. The difference is just that the slang was refined over time by adults assisting the child to be more eloquent.
This is an important thing to remember though, that while childish slang is important for a child to communicate their emotions, it must stay that, Childish Slang. It is the job of the parents to refine that part of their early language out of their later-formed language.
A teenager or an adult using phrases of childish slang is often frowned upon and gives a poor impression. Communicating properly is important in all stages of life and hence what is really bad in childish slang needs to become “utterly unpleasant” for a grown-up!
Conclusion
To conclude, what is really bad in childish slang is a question to ponder over as this emotion is important not only for a child to express but for the adult to understand as well.
Children use basic sounds and facial expressions along with hand gestures to express what they feel. Early development of language for any child mostly involves childish slang and gibberish.
A more grown kid can use alternate words to express something being unpleasant while a younger infant would mostly produce aversed sounds.
Once a kid starts forming complete sensible sentences, it is important for parents to refine the childish slang out of their regular language and to make sure they are able to communicate properly and fluently.