# So... what was your first word? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 5, 2002, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814 "2002-12-05T23:55:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Creaky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@Creaky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creaky)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814/21 "2002-12-06T06:03:29Z")
According to my baby book, which I dragged out of the closet, my first two words were “hot” and “cookie”. ---
**Author:** ![Shera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Shera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shera)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814/22 "2002-12-06T06:22:47Z")
According to my mom, my first word was “bread.” Of course that was at a point in time when she actually had time to bake bread. ---
**Author:** ![Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/db5fbb/32.png) [@Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fred)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814/23 "2002-12-06T06:28:37Z")
My feelings towards first words are hard to articulate. Babies make random sylabble sounds of no meaning whatsoever - repeating “tatatata” over and over again, for example. Is it really fair to treat “dada” or “mama” as a first word? ---
**Author:** ![AbsolutelyStark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/278dde/32.png) [@AbsolutelyStark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbsolutelyStark)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814/24 "2002-12-06T07:18:21Z")
“Book.” ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814/25 "2002-12-06T08:21:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kwyjibo \* > **Berlap.** Of course, I get the reference. 🙂 My grandfather taught me to sit in his lap, pound my fist on the table and say “ **Beer!** ”, believe it or not. He was quite proud of that, but the rest of the family wasn’t quite as impressed… Eric ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814/26 "2002-12-06T10:18:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by the grim spectre of red death \* > \*\*My feelings towards first words are hard to articulate. Babies make random sylabble sounds of no meaning whatsoever - repeating “tatatata” over and over again, for example. Is it really fair to treat “dada” or “mama” as a first word? \*\* You are right that sometimes babies make random syllable sounds. I’m sure I said some gibberish before and after saying papá. Except that in some languages, dada and mama and papa can actually mean something. I think first words are when a baby utters something that have some meaning in the language(s) he/she is being raised. ---
**Author:** ![Racer1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee59a6/32.png) [@Racer1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Racer1)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814/27 "2002-12-06T10:51:26Z")
My first word was “duck” during a trip to the park. I was just one letter out. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814/28 "2002-12-06T10:52:50Z")
I am told that my first word was “Tang”. ---
**Author:** ![dragongirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b38774/32.png) [@dragongirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragongirl)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814/29 "2002-12-06T12:54:27Z")
I’m not very original, my first word was “dada”, but my little sister’s first word was “Jesus”, she yelled it out when she saw a man with a beard. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814/30 "2002-12-06T13:45:24Z")
cookie. and I still love em. I stoped telling women though because they make fun of me. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814/31 "2002-12-06T13:45:31Z")
“All gone.” ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814/32 "2002-12-06T13:51:29Z")
I don’t know what mine was, but my son’s was “Hello!” He was an infant, lying on the changing table, I was changing his diaper, and I’d always talk to him and say Hello to him. One day he clearly said “Hello!” back to me. It’s true. ---
**Author:** ![Skip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@Skip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skip)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814/33 "2002-12-06T14:08:16Z")
“Eddie” which is my dad’s name and what I’ve always called him. ---
**Author:** ![Sebhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@Sebhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sebhal)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814/34 "2002-12-06T14:08:38Z")
‘Beer!’ _a la_ **Santos**. N. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814/35 "2002-12-06T14:20:06Z")
Oh, and my cousin’s first word was “Batman!” (And yeah, she had to get stitches one day after donning a cape and leaping off her parents’ bed.) ---
**Author:** ![Adridne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ccd318/32.png) [@Adridne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Adridne)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814/36 "2002-12-06T15:05:08Z")
“Dog!” shortly followed by “cat!” Mama and Daddy had to wait a few weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Snooze35](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Snooze35](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooze35)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814/37 "2002-12-06T15:12:56Z")
Mine was “fish” My son’s was “dog” and also mimicked the bark too! ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814/38 "2002-12-06T15:35:41Z")
“Bird.” ---
**Author:** ![pendgwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@pendgwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pendgwen)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814/39 "2002-12-06T16:14:34Z")
When I was a baby my dad was in law school. Thus he spent a lot of time either at class or studying and not so much at home. According to family tradition my first phrase was “Bye bye Daddy.” ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814/40 "2002-12-06T16:24:22Z")
Regarding what other posters have said, that simple repetition of syllables shouldn’t count, that’s true. The first word is when the baby associates _meaning_ with the sound s/he is making. First words _do exist_, and parents can usually tell when the child first makes that leap. They just can. Mine was ‘bottle.’ My son’s was ‘up’ (as in ‘pick me up’), and my daughter’s was ‘hi.’ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-your-first-word/140814.md?page=3)