I read in a book that the word idiot, from Greek idiotes, wasn’t originally a derogatory term, but just described those who could only speak their own language or idiom. The online etymology dictionary entry says the term described someone lacking professional skill. That is your tasty bit of information (TBOI) of the day.

Back in December I was on a trip with my daughter-in-law and my oldest granddaughter. (That I have not one, but two, g-i-r-l-s astonishes me. They arrived after three sons and six grandsons.) We were stuck in traffic, inching forward at a tedious pace. We watched a driver make an illegal incomplete U-turn at the end of an off ramp. Jessie, driving, watched this odd maneuver and declared, “YOU are an ID-iot!”

From the car seat in the back a little voice piped up, oblivious to its meaning, “I’M an idiot!”  You have to hear the inflection. In musical terms, her “I’M” was on G for a dotted half note, “an” down a fourth for a quarter note and triple eighth notes on C “idiot.” In layman’s terms, it was darn cute! We laughed and assured her she was not.

A new entry in our marital lexicon has been made. When we blunder, we own it by mimicking Aria’s voice: I’Mmmmm anidiot! And the sting of the truth is neutralized by laughter.