# Your first word

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 2, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686 "2010-06-02T19:37:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Q.N.Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3da27b/32.png) [@Q.N.Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.N.Jones)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686/21 "2010-06-03T01:12:50Z")

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My parents, who were the world’s least sentimental parents, surprisingly kept a list of all my “new words” as I learned them. The first was “mama,” followed by “dada.”

In the top 10 was the word “chocolate.”

When I saw that, I was like, WTF were you doing feeding me chocolate at that age? No wonder I was a fat kid who grew up into a fat (and chocolate addicted) adult!

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**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686/22 "2010-06-03T01:37:51Z")

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My mother liked to tell the story of how when I was an infant in the cradle the first sound I made on a regular basis sounded like the word “what.” She said the reaction of visitors was incredible when they would lean over me and say one of those silly things people say to babies and I would look back and say “what.”

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**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686/23 "2010-06-03T01:41:36Z")

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According to my mother, my first word was “cookie.”

Appropriate.

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**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:** [June 3, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686/24 "2010-06-03T01:45:51Z")

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> [@Glory](#):
>
> According to my mother, my first word was “cookie.”
> 
> Appropriate.

So was mine. And I do love me some cookies. I think if I could I’d live off of them.

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**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686/25 "2010-06-03T04:48:57Z")

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Mine was Dada (not dad-ah, or however it is like the term for a father, but “Dah-dah”- like the art movement), referring to my grandfather, as it’s the term to call one’s grandfather, though I believe it’s reserved for my paternal grandfather, and he was my maternal one, but still, I can’t be perfect.

I still to this day call him that though. Actually, everyone in my family now does, even his kids.

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**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686/26 "2010-06-03T05:00:49Z")

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My first words were “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”

That was at 4 months.

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**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686/27 "2010-06-03T05:37:13Z")

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No idea what mine was but LittlestDuhnym’s was “Da-DEEEEE” thanks to a campaign by my husband.

Thanks to OldestDuhnym and Super Mario Smash Brothers, his newest thing is, “DIE!DIE!DIE!”

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**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686/28 "2010-06-03T10:59:34Z")

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Mine, I am told, was “shup,” which was meant to be, and soon became, “shut up.” Certainly I heard that a lot, later on, but I suspect I first overheard it directed at one of my siblings.

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**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686/29 "2010-06-03T11:12:14Z")

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Nothing fancy… papá (daddy). Made dad proud, mom not so much. They say three things happened almost at the same time. I learned to stand up on my crib (holding rails), my first tooth came out, and I said “papá”. Second word was “mamá”. Third word was Cocó, the name I gave to the handmade doll I got that Christmas.

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**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686/30 "2010-06-03T11:53:38Z")

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**Jack Batty** and **Moidalize** , you crack me up - thanks for the funniest things I’ve read all day…  
My first word was “ceiling” - which may not be so surprising in itself, except that I was correcting my older brother at the time who was calling it a “roof.” He’s hated me ever since.

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**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686/31 "2010-06-03T17:11:36Z")

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‘Juice’.

My brother and I both got bottle rot.

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**Author:** ![Rafe\_Hollister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Rafe\_Hollister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rafe_Hollister)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686/32 "2010-06-03T18:34:39Z")

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Water. Appropriate, since I grew up in a family of fishermen and fished all my life and went on to get a degree in Biology-Conservation/Ecology/Marine Biology.

Rafe, Jr.'s first word was “poot”. He was 8 or 9 months old and was sitting in the floor playing with me. He leaned over to one side and let one go. I said, “Did you just poot?” He smiled and said, “Poot!” Adorable.

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**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686/33 "2010-06-03T18:44:25Z")

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I was a second child and my older sister talked for me. I didn’t feel the need to talk until I was just over two years old. My grandma thought I was mentally handicapped.

One day, my sister starting taking ballet lessons. I was alone with my mom who was talking on the phone while feeding me lunch. I pointed at the arrowroot cookie to no avail. I whined and such but, again, she was busy trying to get off the phone. She hung up and I said (clearly, I am told, I remember the incident but not my pronunciation):

“May I have that, please?”

Just like my big sister would have. I haven’t shut up since (and started reading only months later which my mom consistently threw in grandma’s face).

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**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686/34 "2010-06-03T18:49:28Z")

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“No.” If something happened that I didn’t like, I’d sit there looking unhappy and wail, “Noooooo.”

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**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686/35 "2010-06-03T19:02:48Z")

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According to my mother, my first words were the beginning of the Jewish [Kaddish](http://www.jewfaq.org/prayer/kaddish.htm) prayer.

–SMM

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**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686/36 "2010-06-03T19:24:23Z")

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> [@Q.N.Jones](#):
>
> In the top 10 was the word “chocolate.”

Haha that’s great!

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**Author:** ![Transhumanist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Transhumanist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Transhumanist)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686/37 "2010-06-03T19:37:31Z")

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My first word was: Singularity.

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**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686/38 "2010-06-03T19:47:38Z")

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I don’t know what my first word was, and I don’t even remember my oldest kids’ first words, but I will always remember my youngest’s first word- it was “more”, which pretty much defines him even to this day. He always wants more, of everything.

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**Author:** ![Mooch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mooch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooch)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686/39 "2010-06-03T20:06:22Z")

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While pointing at my mom’s chest , my first word was boobs. Pronounced “doots”.

I think that’s the only entry in my baby book written in my dad’s handwriting.

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**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-word/541686/40 "2010-06-04T16:04:49Z")

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[QUOTE=Q.N. Jones;12528566In the top 10 was the word “chocolate.”  
[/QUOTE]

You’re not alone - both my kids had “chocolate” in their first 10.

I think my son’s first word was “cheese.” My daughter’s was “Mama,” I’m pretty sure. No idea what mine was.

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