About Distracted Daddy
Distracted Daddy is a working father with a two-year-old daughter, a focused wife and a flatulent pug. When he’s not distracted he blogs about poop, parenting and other things at distracteddaddy.com.
Quoting Toddlers
the fatherlode: cute things toddlers say canada
(Jun.30.11)
My daughter has joined the ranks of Bart Simpson, Ed McMahon, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Samuel L. Jackson, and Gary Coleman. My daughter now has her own catchphrase.
Her catchphrase is “Oh, my goodness!”
It’s usually said like this. “Oh. My. Good-ness!” Each word is given distinct emphasis and followed by massive pauses for dramatic effect. She’s following the William Shatner school of line delivery.
Do all toddlers have catchphrases? Is catchphrasing a developmental stage? Where did her catchphrase come from?
Certainly not from my wife or me. Neither of us uses Ned Flanders-isms to express shock and bewilderment. “Oh, my goodness” is far too quaint for us.
It’s PG or G even, suitable for all audiences. It’s more TV catchphrase than action movie signoff. More Steve Urkel’s “Did I do that?” than Lt. John McClane’s “Yippy kay yay mother-“ you know the rest.
Maybe she learned it from daycare, or was fed the line from a series of carefully test-marketed options. We’ll never know, one day she just blurted it out and the next day it became her thing. I wonder if other toddlers at daycare are saying it too?
Like all great catchphrases, timing is key and my daughter drops her saying at the most ridiculous times. She’ll accidentally spill milk on the floor and punctuate it with “Oh my goodness” Or upon seeing the crocodile emblem on one of my polo shirts she’ll say it. “Crocodile. Oh, my goodness.”
She often uses her catchphrase to entice my wife and I to see what she’s doing. If my daughter’s digging for worms in the backyard and sees something interesting. We’ll hear this, “Daddy. Oh, my goodness.”
It piques your interest. You wonder what she’s encountered. Then you go over to find that she’s looking at a rock. “Oh, my goodness” indeed.
Her catchphrase has become so popular in our household that my wife and I get disappointed when our daughter doesn’t use it. We even find ourselves quoting it after our daughter’s gone to sleep.
That’s the true sign of catchphrase success. You always want to hear the familiar phrase. It becomes so ubiquitous. It’s the Bart Simpson “Eat My Shorts” syndrome.
Next stop merchandising. “Oh my goodness” t-shirts and coffee mugs and mouse pads. Then “Oh, my goodness” the album.
I’m sure she’ll still be saying “Oh, my goodness” into her teen years. Ed McMahon never got past “Here’s Johnny.” And I’m still asking people where the beef is or what Willis is talking about.
Toddlers may grow old, but catchphrases never do, right?
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