Member-only story
Birdie
Sudden word flashbacks
I remember the first time I learned the true spelling of badminton. It was many decades ago. I played badminton with other kids but they all called it, badmitten. My parents also called it, badmitten. Then I learned about the letter ’n’ in the word. I remember getting very upset by that. I don’t remember why I got so upset. And I don’t know why that memory from almost 50 years ago suddenly came squirting through my noggin.
On my early morning walk today I spotted a yellow bird. There aren’t many yellow birds in this neck of the prairie. It’s a rare sighting. The bird was cute and tiny. It was singing a song that I’ve never heard before.
Do you know what the subtle connection is between the 2 paragraphs above? (Hint: the answer is “birdie.”)
When I played badminton as a kid everyone called that projectile that we swatted back and forth, a birdie. Now I’m remembering when I learned that the true term for that projectile is, shuttlecock. For some reason I never got upset at all about that. Maybe it is because I made a clear, firm decision to stick with the term, birdie.
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