Boobies

A must-tell story:

I have invited my monolingual and her live-in cousin to my after-school tutoring. Yesterday was our first day all together, and they had to wait for their sister/cousin to come out of ninth hour so we had some time to ourselves. We were playing a made-up game, and I was very excited because Karla, the monolingual, was using self-initiated English: "Sit, Miss Sells. Come here, Miss Sells. No copy me, Miss Sells." Anyway, I was giving them some orders, like, "Walk fast. Walk SLOOOOOW, Stop!" and one of the orders was "Dance!" So, of course, we all started shaking what our mamas gave us! Karla was beside herself and yelled, "Shake your boobies!"

"What!?" I said, stopping mid-dance, hoping I misheard.

Her slightly slower cousin was quick to repeat, laughingly recalling: "She said, 'shake your boobies', Miss Sells."

Mouth agape, I covered my "boobies" protectively. "Karla!" I reprimanded.

Karla looked slightly confused, then pointed to her butt. "Boobies, no?"

I guess I've referred to the buttocks as "booty" too many times. And you know, "booby" does sound VERY close to "booty." Hmm... enunciation.

As a later note, she was also heard on the playground repeating my catchphrase: "Oh my goodness!"