Nate mostly speaks minion. Yes, “minion” as in those little yellow cartoon guys that sometimes have one eye and sometimes have two and speak some version of gibberish Italian. Nate is fluent.
It started way back when little kids make noises that sound like talking, but is really just gibberish. And then it never stopped. He picked-up English, but never abandoned his first language. He greets me each morning with “Bello, Mama guena!”
Lately, he’s added new catch words and phrases.
It probably started with “Macarena, Macarena, Macarena.”
Then it was exclamations of “pina colada!” Whenever the mood struck.
There was a short stint of “Man buns!” Till I explained it was a hairstyle. After that, he didn’t love it as much.
He’s had several weeks of “Mint condition!” Followed by a few months of embarrassing, publicly sarcastic outbursts of “OK… Boomer.”
His latest go-to is “Chinese chickón,” said with a bit of a Spanish accent. Origins unclear… possibly based on a recent radio ad for the Barenaked Ladies concert in Paso? Chickity China, the Chinese chicken. Have a drumstick and your brain starts tickin’…
Then last night, I was quietly writing my blog, just minding my own business, when Nate caught wind of my muse. He tried to delete my writing and ended the encounter with a harrumphing, “You smell like man buns!”
OK… Gen Alpha.