My niece Klubnikis doesn’t call her father “papa,” “father,” “padre” or “Dad” even though she can say all these words perfectly well.
She calls him “Papoontin” because a shorter appellation must seem grievously inadequate for such an important person.
I don’t know what language Klubnikis is derived from, but it conjures the image of a very inquisitive, bright, and adorable little child. The talent for picking names clearly runs in the family.
LikeLike
It’s part of being autistic that I don’t call people I care about with their actual names. I haven’t addressed my husband with his actual name a single time in our entire relationship. Every week I have a new nickname for him. 🙂 Klubnikis is based on the Russian word for “strawberry”. 🙂
You are right, she is a precious child. Multilingual, too. 🙂
LikeLike
Rimi: Klubnikis is purely Clarissa’s invention :). It stems from the word ‘klubnika’ which means ‘strawberry’. It is indeed adorable and seems appropriate for my little one (whose actual name is Mikaela).
LikeLike
Rimi: you are absolutely right! Clarissa and I can debate about something for hours, then make peace and shift to a neutral subject. Passionate disagreemens and peace can happily co-exist. 🙂
LikeLike
A conservative literary critic and college professor
Clarissa's Blog 
Leave a comment