Every family has its own inside jokes and made-up words. If you spend any time with my boys, you will discover that their favorite way of insulting someone is to describe him as a pyrozombie.
I'm not sure when the general idea of a zombie entered the children's imaginations. As homeschool parents Ari and I usually have a fair bit of control over what movies or books influence them and I don't recall intentionally introducing the idea, but we don't try to cut them off from the outside world or anything. At some point half a year ago, "zombie" had become a concept that they occasionally discussed.
I think it was E5 who first added the prefix. He had a much-loved book about pirate ships throughout history, all 22 pages of which he had committed to memory. So I imagine that when he said "pyrozombie" the first time, he was actually attempting to combine the concepts of "pirate" and "zombie". However, my pyromaniac exploits in college have left me with a tender spot toward fire, and when I heard the word, my imagination immediately sprang up with images of a zombie aflame.
It didn't take long for such a picturesque concept to firmly lodge in each boy's mind. The word has its variations. A female might be a "pyrozombette", and you may be interrogated on how you came up with such a "pyrozombic" idea. At this point, I doubt the mental image is even summoned most times the word is used.
I once heard that your average small child regularly produces English sentences that have never before been produced in the history of the language. If you allow for the coining of new words, this proposition seems even more plausible.
Have your children, or children of your acquaintance, invented any amusing or descriptive words?
I'm not sure when the general idea of a zombie entered the children's imaginations. As homeschool parents Ari and I usually have a fair bit of control over what movies or books influence them and I don't recall intentionally introducing the idea, but we don't try to cut them off from the outside world or anything. At some point half a year ago, "zombie" had become a concept that they occasionally discussed.
I think it was E5 who first added the prefix. He had a much-loved book about pirate ships throughout history, all 22 pages of which he had committed to memory. So I imagine that when he said "pyrozombie" the first time, he was actually attempting to combine the concepts of "pirate" and "zombie". However, my pyromaniac exploits in college have left me with a tender spot toward fire, and when I heard the word, my imagination immediately sprang up with images of a zombie aflame.
It didn't take long for such a picturesque concept to firmly lodge in each boy's mind. The word has its variations. A female might be a "pyrozombette", and you may be interrogated on how you came up with such a "pyrozombic" idea. At this point, I doubt the mental image is even summoned most times the word is used.
I once heard that your average small child regularly produces English sentences that have never before been produced in the history of the language. If you allow for the coining of new words, this proposition seems even more plausible.
Have your children, or children of your acquaintance, invented any amusing or descriptive words?
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