28 December 2010 8:40 am
Whaddyou Say?
I'm reminded of an interaction between Andrea and her cousin Abigail over the summer. Andrea and Abigail were playing in and around a tent made of blankets and chairs in Abigail's living room. Andrea must have said something to Abigail, which Abigail questioned. The following dialog went something like this:
Andrea: "Whaddyou say?"
Abigail: "How come?"
Andrea: "Whaddyou say?"
Abigail: "How come?"
Andrea: "Whaddyou say?"
Abigail: "How come?"
Andrea: "Whaddyou say?"
Me: "Andrea, 'How come?' is another way to ask 'Why?'"
Andrea: "Oh."
It wasn't until this exchange that I realized that a phrase so common to me in my childhood has become foreign to me as an adult. So foreign, that my daughter doesn't even know what it means! Is this a east-coast phrase not common in the mid-west?
I asked my brother (not Abigail's father) if he knew a two word phrase that means 'Why?', and he immediately responded "How come?" Whether he was questioning why I needed to know or answering the question, he apparently hasn't forgotten his roots.
