Playing with Words

Being pretty new to the territory of words and language and whatnot, Bryson occasionally makes some amusing slips of the tongue. Two brief examples:

Tonight Bry had the good fortune to have tater tot casserole for dinner. Go midwestern cooking! Steve scooped some casserole onto Bry's plate and explained all of the components: beef, mixed veggies, onions, celery, lima beans, and of course, tater tots. After Bry polished off his first tot, he requested enthusiastically, "More teeter totters!" Being the mature adults that we are, this of course prompted Steve and I to refer to the conglomerates of potato as "teeter totters" for the rest of dinner. Mmm. Good teeter totters.

Later tonight, when I was rocking Bry, he requested "songs!" When I asked him what song he wanted, he thought for a moment, and responded, "Workin' on Freeway!" when he was attempting to ask for "I've Been Workin' on the Railroad." I got the idea, but later regretted having translated for Bry, because I then got hit up for about six encore performances: "Do it a-gain!" Have you ever realized how nonsensical that song is? Who is this Dinah person and why is someone playing the banjo in her kitchen? I get the sense that I'm missing some context here, having learned the song many, many years ago, when I never really paid attention to what the words in songs meant. Just remembering the words must have taken up all of my mental capacity at the time. Good thing I've got so much mental capacity to spare currently. Ha.