Someone asked which of their children’s mispronounced words people had added to the family lexicon – 23 of the best
We’re sure that every family has its own little lexicon compiled from misheard, mispronounced, or half forgotten things people have said. We’d put good money on you having your own name for a remote control, for example.
Over on Twitter, The Husky asked for some examples of a specific category of family words.
Admit it: Your kid mispronounced a word three years ago and now the whole family says it that way. What's the word in your house? (We still say 'pasketti' and I’m not stopping anytime soon.)
— The Husky (@Mr_Husky1) March 26, 2026
Toddler mistakes must account for at least half of the made-up words that end up in regular use, right?
People had a lot of them to share. These were our favourites.
1.
‘Beef-ial’ for ‘beautiful’…
— Prof Janina Ramirez (@DrJaninaRamirez) March 26, 2026
2.
One of my kids said Flutterbys instead of butterflies. That was 45 yrs ago & we all still say it.
— TnGRITS420 (@TnGRITS420) March 26, 2026
3.
My nephew couldn’t say Parmesan so it’s now called shake cheese. https://t.co/b6VftFvPAf
— ✨ᶜᵃˢʰᵐᵉʳᵉ & ᶜᵃˡˡᵒᵘˢᵉˢ✨ (@Yoc_Star) March 26, 2026
4.
Fridge-a-later. Where you fridge your food for later https://t.co/F2P87RCFnr
— riley sciarappa (@EndOfDaysWoman) March 26, 2026
5.
Took my nephew with me to the fire station to borrow a wheelchair for my dad. He was 3 at the time and had trouble pronouncing “tr” sounds.
So we walk in, and he says with all the confidence in the world, “HEY! YA’LL GOT ANY FIREFUCKS HERE?!”
Let me tell you… once they were… https://t.co/MQmdWBA7q9
— littlest.mrs (@littlestmrs) March 26, 2026
6.
My brother pronounced naked as nectared so we all say nectared instead of naked I came to the conclusion that bra was derived from broccoli as a toddler and called my moms bra’s broccolis so we all call bra’s broccolis https://t.co/FZlycoUClm
— alexandrovna (@Alexandrovna805) March 26, 2026
7.
My 4-year-old called it "ambliance" instead of ambulance and now we all panic about calling the ambliance when someone gets hurt. Some things are just better the kid way.
— Hrutik Kumthekar (@bushido_hk) March 26, 2026
8.
Boy 4 (and now everyone else) says ‘hinger’and he also says ‘hospitopital’ and I have prayed to the speech gods that that never changes. https://t.co/KBPzkq7ydU
— Jen (@JJSharpers) March 26, 2026
9.
"Eggyput". I misprounounced "Egypt" as a child and it became my family's name for egg mayonnaise in a sandwich. https://t.co/AHTe0Uf53k
— Frances 'Cassandra' Coppola (@Frances_Coppola) March 26, 2026
10.
My nephew says “Shiggen” instead of chicken https://t.co/QPoYfm1gb6
— EtheREAL Gyal⚡️ (@milahdoll) March 26, 2026
11.
When my son was little I called him "baby doll" but he couldn't pronounce it. He said babadoo. I still say babadoo https://t.co/iTBe0fyY2q
— Shane Creamer (@SportsBelleChel) March 26, 2026
12.
My son calls hotels “hoe and tells” and I’m like, you know, in the spirit of thing he’s not wrong https://t.co/fd8cMMze9r
— John (@DoxepinHCl) March 26, 2026