Baby Talk

For three hours on end, we sat amidst swirling smoke, screaming our lungs out, expanding our larnyxes. Partially satisfied, we stepped out of Party World, only to find that the heavens was pouring itself out just as we'd poured out our emotions during the ktv session, and didn't show any sign of abating. A 6-pack of Tiger later, the rain still pattered rentlessly and the ensuing fiasco saw us back at XL's place just as the working class started contributing to the early morning jam on their way to work, totally drenched. I had some shut eye there, and woke up when the baby of the house started crying.

Now, the Ostrich has a really cute niece who's probably about 1 or 2 years of age, and just like the last time I was there with Red Leader, she gurgled and sputtered incomprehensible gibberish that most of us call 'Baby Talk', gesturing wildly and alternatingly crying, staring and laughing as she went along.

Nope. She's not a mentally challenged kid. That's how most babies behave, at one point or another. I have pictures of myself pointing at nothing in particular, pouting for no reason whatsoever, and my actions have been attributed as 'cute'...so I think the same applies for her as well.

All this brings me to wonder: Do babies actually know what they are saying when they engage in 'Baby Talk'? Or are they as clueless as we adults are, sprouting nonsensical syllables for the mere sake of noise making?

I doubt most of you can actually remember what you were doing or thinking way back during the time you were engaging in 'Baby Talk' and being excused of such senseless behaviour with the 'cute' label. For me, the only recollection I have of myself engaging in that act was with my younger brother, although there IS a very vague memory (which i cannot ascertain) of me pointing at my grandmother and 'Baby Talking', and although the words that came out were totally incomprehensible, I seemed to have had something I meant to express to my grandma. The recollections of my 'Baby Talk' conversations with my younger brother though, were pure gibberish that made as much sense as the proposed fare hikes in the public transport sector. We'd exchange strings of utter nonsense, something I started doing to stop him from crying when he was little.

Daniel: eh heh...eh heh...eh heh....(prelude)

Me: *uh-oh*

Daniel: weeeehehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh~~~

Me: *covers ears, scrambles over to the crib*

Daniel: wwweeeeeHEHHHhhhhhhhh~~

Me: coochie coochie coo...

Daniel: WWEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~~!!!!

Me: *ack* ah-goo-ichi-ah....goo-la-ooo? (somehow when I phrased my gibberish in the questioning way, it'd get his attention faster)

Daniel: weeehhhh.....uh.....oooo?

Me: ee-ah-gee-yu-gu....ooo-goo-pu-la-mu?

Daniel: *squeals* heh heh...uh...guu?

Me: ah-goo-ku-li-ah....goo-lu?

Daniel: ah-goo...ki-lia-ooo?

*Mission Accomplished*

That's how it went.

I never really knew what I was talking about back then, but maybe it translated into something that only babies understood. And maybe, growing up, we lose that awareness and understanding of that secret language. Or maybe it's just pure nonsense, and my bro simply stopped crying because I probably looked and sounded goofy while trying to 'Baby Talk'.

It also makes me wonder, do adults sometimes know what they are talking about? Often, we hear senseless words, meaningless vulgarities attributed to male and female genitals or sexual intercourse, thoughtless jibes that hurt more than a knife's thrust from adults who are supposed to be discerning.

I mean, what's up with calling someone a 'dickhead'? You use two different body parts, think that it's 'name-calling', and expect someone to get offended? Puh-lease...how offended would anyone get if I called you 'Handleg', or 'Buttpelvis', or 'eyebrowfingernail', or 'vaginatoe'??? What's up with 'fuck'? Everyone says 'fuck you'...why not substitute it with something more refreshing like 'drink you!', or 'breathe you!'...or 'flex you!'....WHY FUCK?

Heck...I don't understand it. But I still use those words. Yeah...I'm another senseless nonsense talker...so sue me.

On a more serious note, do think before you say anything. Like a tube of toothpaste, what you spew forth from your mouth cannot be fully returned back into the tube. Hurts derived from verbal scourges tend to stay around for a long, long time.

Riding hard, fast, safely AND taking a few corners.