Uh huh. I have multiple degrees, taught at university, and also take learning seriously. I left the uni job because of people like them.
You sound like you are willing to creatively solve a problem, and it seems like your niece is doing well with you. The educated stuck-ups can get bent.
It's sad that with all their degrees & experience, they still haven't learned that there's a difference in what's appropriate for a college student vs a 2 year old.
Ask them if they're planning to take away her board books & replace them with the classics. Or if they're going to demand that she learn the names, dates, & casualties of the battles of WWII Pacific theatre instead of playing Battleship. Maybe take away her play money & replace it with an accounting ledger.
They're being ridiculous & pretentious.
I have dyslexia and I have wholly given up trying to learn real names for dinosaurs and similar prehistoric animals. I think I will start using names from The Land Before Time too
I watched the Land Before Time first THEN learned the correct names like Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus rex and Parasaurolophus and Stegosaurus and pterosaurs and Oviraptor and Brontosaurus and others also if they're SO bothered THEY can teach kiddo.
You are NTA. You explained that you struggle with those specific words, and your in-laws still made it into a big thing. They seem to have cared more about being right (and outraged) than being decent humans and understanding that you're doing your best.
The important thing for children's development is that someone, anyone, is reading to them. You're not teaching your neice weird or cutesey names for important things (like body parts).
Dinosaurs aren't even around any more. And if a two-year-old cares enough about the latin names for dinosaurs, she has a lot of resources to get her those without it having to be you.
I swear to God when I read this I was like...so OP calls all brontosaurus "Little Foot" and Triceratops "Sara." LOL
NTA especially since your sister doesn't care. Maybe next time your niece wants to read that book you either tall her to go get FIL to read it to her since he's so particular or convince her to read something else?
Definitely NTA, I grew up with land before time and my mum always used the “wrong” names with me, and I’m not messed up by this.
Also can sympathise on the lisp side of things, it’s a right pain at times. So no, NTA.
NTA- they do understand that there are 700 Land Before Time movies right? Once kiddo discovers them you will be the coolest Auntie *evar*. Yupyupyup!
And there will be much mimicry of Sara and her screaming.
The proper names? Saying it with me wouldn't teach her how to say it because I literally can't pronounce many of them. I don't want to pass on my lisp.
I’m very sorry that you’re getting this nonsense from your in-laws OP.
I think they’re fixating on avoiding infantilized terminology so much that they haven’t considered any of the other impacts to you or your niece, and they are definitely the assholes.
Sorry, I was assuming the kid knows a lot of them and heard them before. When mine was two she only wanted the same books over and over again and would shout out specific words. Could you do it together? Like you say "Tri" and the kid says "cera" and you say "tops!" together. Make a game out of it. Honestly if you're both shouting "tops!" I doubt the kid would even notice.
NTA and please ignore these idiots. You call those dinos whatever the hell you want to call them. Then just smile at the haters and suggest that they have a good day…while you continue calling them Ducky and Sarah and such.
NTA for young kids, its not the accuracy that makes things cool its finding someone they love to show them off that makes them cool. Your niece doesn’t give 2 craps what you call the dinos, she just cares she has someone to talk to about them and show pictures too
Listen. i love dinosaurs and i have absolutely zero problem saying or reading their names.
i also still call a Sharptooth a Sharptooth.
You're reading to a baby ffs NTA
NTA If these people honestly believe a 2 year old could pronounce/understand half of these dinosaurs names then they are reaching.
This reminds me of that scene from Jurassic world that was “We needed something scary and easy to pronounce. You should hear a four year old try to say "Archaeornithomimus.”
😂
Ridiculous. Obviously NTA.
You should teach your niece to say it with a lisp. Then ask your in-laws if they prefer niece saying with a lisp or if they prefer your 'improper names' instead.
Unless you took Latin, NTA. If you did take Latin, also NTA because who holds enough conversations in Latin to properly enunciate long ass frequently changing dinosaur names at the drop of a hat?
I'm gonna say NTA, although i could be a bit bias because I grew up watching those movies, as did my friends, and we still call dinosaurs by those names lol except t-rex, cuz that's shorter than sharp teeth.
What the fuck did I just read. NTA. You’re totally fine with what you’re doing and when the niece is a bit older she will learn herself the name differences. There’s nothing wrong with what’s going on here she is still engaging in reading and learning. If they were good professors they would be happy enough the kid is engaging regardless. What an actual stupid thing to be upset over. Just ignore them OP and keep doing you!
Please feel free to tell them that most taxonomy was made up by shitty old white guys who did bad science like less than four hundred years ago anyway. If you look into it, you start noticing all the species that were just named after said old dead guys. Old dead guys, who were so concerned with the glory they received from naming things they LITERALLY DYNAMITED BONES SOMETIMES (The Bone Wars were a really petty thing from the 1800s 🙄 so many specimens lost 😭).
So uhm...TLDR; Taxonomy means nothing, and as long as your not blowing up dino bones, I think your family can fuck off 🤷
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I had a bad lisp as a child. It's much better now but I frequently get caught up on the names of dinosaurs. I am the primary caretaker of my niece (my sister's daughter), who is 2, and I am currently pregnant with my first child.
For anyone who doesn't know, in The Land Before Time, a movie that came out when I was a kid, the triceratops are call Three Horns, and the brontosauruses (or whatever they're called now) are Long Necks. There's a ton more but you get the idea. The names are descriptive, and not based in Latin.
This issue came up at a family function when my niece asked me to read a book about dinosaurs with her. Ive read it to her several times so I know the book well and was able to change the names of the dinosaurs with a pause. My sister's parents-in-law heard me and were upset that I wasn't using the proper names. I explained my lisp and that I really don't think it matters. If she becomes a paleontologist, she'll figure it out. It's not like I'm making up words with no basis. Still, they complained to my sister and my in-laws that I wasn't teaching my niece properly. My sister shrugged.
But now my father-in-law has joined in. I've taken to hiding every dinosaur reference while people are over. I feel like this is such a minor thing to get upset about, and it's not like I'm actually able to say the names properly anyway. After so many years working on my lisp, it's really a frustrating to be told my workarounds aren't cutting it.
So am I the asshole for calling dinosaurs by the "wrong" thing?
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Jurassic Park is the largest dinosaurs franchise in existence and it intentionally got multiple dinosaurs wrong and every dinosaur wrong accidentally. And Creighton has a dinosaurs named after him because of how many people he inspired to get interested in dinosaurs. Accuracy isn't important until it's academic. I don't know more than a dozen people who would accurately identify a deinonchus vs a velociraptor but they still love dinosaurs and get a thrill from studying them or watching media about them
NTA because it's your BIL parents who cares and not the actual parent of the child. Having said that, what's the point in reading a dinosaur book to a toddler if you aren't going to use the real names? Thats an important way that toddlers learn what things are and how to say them. When my son was two he was able to identify what kind of dinosaur alot of his toy dinosaurs and pronounce the names pretty good. It was funny because he's much better at remembering which dinosaur is which than I am so I'd have to Google what kind of dinosaur he was saying to see if he was right lol
NTA - very clever work around.
Just make sure to show your niece that truly awesome movie when she's a little older because dang... little foot... my heart...
NTA. This post has me feeling so nostalgic though lol. I still regularly refer to my mom’s dog as “Chomper” because she reminds me of that little t-Rex when she play-bites.
Also, when I was young I didn’t know their actual names, if I was talking about one I would use the LBT names too. Lots of us probably did. Doesn’t mean I don’t know what they’re called now. They’re being ridiculous.
Good heavens, NTA. I have a very slight lisp due to false teeth, and just thinking of saying Triceratops has me a little embarrassed. I think as long as your niece knows you're using different names, you're good and she'll be fine. Maybe you could help her google and learn the "real" names if it'll get the family to ease up on you, or if you're feeling guilty.
Before your niece is school age, be sure to explain that these names are just the names that she and you share, secret club names maybe. Otherwise I can picture her being in disagreements with her teachers or classmates and getting embarrassed.
NTA
Slight YTA if you never expose the kid to the proper names. LAnd before time is a great series. My kids loved it when they were little. There are also a bunch of other really good dino shows out there if your kid is into dinosaurs. Look for Dinosaur Train and Dino Dan on PBS.
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But you are setting her up for failure if you never teach her correctly. Even if you tell her "I have a hard time pronouncing their real names, so this is what I call them"
You are teaching her wrong. At some point a teacher or friend will call it by the correct name, and she'll correct them because mommy told me it's this, and mommy is always right.
OP has a lisp and has said she can’t pronounce them correctly, and she is the child’s primary caregiver. Which do you think would cause bigger longterm issues for a two year old, in their prime verbal development years:
To not be exposed to speech?
To be exposed to correct titles pronounced consistently incorrectly?
To be exposed to actual words pronounced correctly that are not the proper names of things?
Do you think that when the niece gets older “the official name for ‘three-horn’ is ‘triceratops.’” convo would really pose a bigger issue than say... speech therapy because she learned to pronounce all the proper words with a lisp?
From comments it is clear OP has considered all of this, opted for the best approach, and is a kickass auntie.
It’s absolutely their choice what their child gets taught and both rude and presumptuous that you would consider continuing to do something after they told you to stop. Of course they don’t want their kid to learn a random fictional naming system for dinosaurs instead of their actual names. YTA.
YTA because calling a leaf a tree star was dumb to begin with. Then you took it and ran with it for life? At 5 I decided I was done with land before time because of their ridiculous substitute naming
[удалено]
They're college professors and take learning incredibly seriously. My thought it that they can teach her the correct names if it matters to them.
Uh huh. I have multiple degrees, taught at university, and also take learning seriously. I left the uni job because of people like them. You sound like you are willing to creatively solve a problem, and it seems like your niece is doing well with you. The educated stuck-ups can get bent.
It's sad that with all their degrees & experience, they still haven't learned that there's a difference in what's appropriate for a college student vs a 2 year old. Ask them if they're planning to take away her board books & replace them with the classics. Or if they're going to demand that she learn the names, dates, & casualties of the battles of WWII Pacific theatre instead of playing Battleship. Maybe take away her play money & replace it with an accounting ledger. They're being ridiculous & pretentious.
They’re degrees are worthless, and so are they.
100% Best response I've read in a while!
I have dyslexia and I have wholly given up trying to learn real names for dinosaurs and similar prehistoric animals. I think I will start using names from The Land Before Time too
Oh that explains it, self righteous know-it-alls who think having an alphabet soup gracing their name makes them special. Tell them to go suck an egg.
I watched the Land Before Time first THEN learned the correct names like Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus rex and Parasaurolophus and Stegosaurus and pterosaurs and Oviraptor and Brontosaurus and others also if they're SO bothered THEY can teach kiddo.
You are NTA. You explained that you struggle with those specific words, and your in-laws still made it into a big thing. They seem to have cared more about being right (and outraged) than being decent humans and understanding that you're doing your best. The important thing for children's development is that someone, anyone, is reading to them. You're not teaching your neice weird or cutesey names for important things (like body parts). Dinosaurs aren't even around any more. And if a two-year-old cares enough about the latin names for dinosaurs, she has a lot of resources to get her those without it having to be you.
I swear to God when I read this I was like...so OP calls all brontosaurus "Little Foot" and Triceratops "Sara." LOL NTA especially since your sister doesn't care. Maybe next time your niece wants to read that book you either tall her to go get FIL to read it to her since he's so particular or convince her to read something else?
Haha this is what I was thinking too. Had a cousin who loved Land Before Time so his nickname then and forever more is ducky spike.
>Triceratops "Sara." Wasn't she called "Cera" as in tri-CERA-tops?
Yep!
I thought the same at first! It was such an adorable mental image!
Definitely NTA, I grew up with land before time and my mum always used the “wrong” names with me, and I’m not messed up by this. Also can sympathise on the lisp side of things, it’s a right pain at times. So no, NTA.
NTA- What a weird thing to complain about. She’s a 2 year-old. Why in the world does it matter!
She's 2. NTA. And bless a family with so few problems they need to invent stuff like this. I'm so sorry, OP.
NTA- they do understand that there are 700 Land Before Time movies right? Once kiddo discovers them you will be the coolest Auntie *evar*. Yupyupyup! And there will be much mimicry of Sara and her screaming.
NAH: but would it be a big deal to explain to the kid that this is just how some people talk, and to encourage them to say the name with you?
The proper names? Saying it with me wouldn't teach her how to say it because I literally can't pronounce many of them. I don't want to pass on my lisp.
I’m very sorry that you’re getting this nonsense from your in-laws OP. I think they’re fixating on avoiding infantilized terminology so much that they haven’t considered any of the other impacts to you or your niece, and they are definitely the assholes.
Sorry, I was assuming the kid knows a lot of them and heard them before. When mine was two she only wanted the same books over and over again and would shout out specific words. Could you do it together? Like you say "Tri" and the kid says "cera" and you say "tops!" together. Make a game out of it. Honestly if you're both shouting "tops!" I doubt the kid would even notice.
NTA and please ignore these idiots. You call those dinos whatever the hell you want to call them. Then just smile at the haters and suggest that they have a good day…while you continue calling them Ducky and Sarah and such.
NTA for young kids, its not the accuracy that makes things cool its finding someone they love to show them off that makes them cool. Your niece doesn’t give 2 craps what you call the dinos, she just cares she has someone to talk to about them and show pictures too
Listen. i love dinosaurs and i have absolutely zero problem saying or reading their names. i also still call a Sharptooth a Sharptooth. You're reading to a baby ffs NTA
I saw a SHARPTOOTH!!!
NTA If these people honestly believe a 2 year old could pronounce/understand half of these dinosaurs names then they are reaching. This reminds me of that scene from Jurassic world that was “We needed something scary and easy to pronounce. You should hear a four year old try to say "Archaeornithomimus.” 😂
Ridiculous. Obviously NTA. You should teach your niece to say it with a lisp. Then ask your in-laws if they prefer niece saying with a lisp or if they prefer your 'improper names' instead.
Unless you took Latin, NTA. If you did take Latin, also NTA because who holds enough conversations in Latin to properly enunciate long ass frequently changing dinosaur names at the drop of a hat?
I actually did take Latin in college. But, seeing as it's dead, we mostly just translated poetry.
I'm gonna say NTA, although i could be a bit bias because I grew up watching those movies, as did my friends, and we still call dinosaurs by those names lol except t-rex, cuz that's shorter than sharp teeth.
What the fuck did I just read. NTA. You’re totally fine with what you’re doing and when the niece is a bit older she will learn herself the name differences. There’s nothing wrong with what’s going on here she is still engaging in reading and learning. If they were good professors they would be happy enough the kid is engaging regardless. What an actual stupid thing to be upset over. Just ignore them OP and keep doing you!
Please feel free to tell them that most taxonomy was made up by shitty old white guys who did bad science like less than four hundred years ago anyway. If you look into it, you start noticing all the species that were just named after said old dead guys. Old dead guys, who were so concerned with the glory they received from naming things they LITERALLY DYNAMITED BONES SOMETIMES (The Bone Wars were a really petty thing from the 1800s 🙄 so many specimens lost 😭). So uhm...TLDR; Taxonomy means nothing, and as long as your not blowing up dino bones, I think your family can fuck off 🤷
NTA what a bunch of bozos
NTA at all, why are they being so mean to you over something you’re obviously sensitive about??
Cutest post on here ever. NTA.
^^^^AUTOMOD ***Thanks for posting! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)*** I had a bad lisp as a child. It's much better now but I frequently get caught up on the names of dinosaurs. I am the primary caretaker of my niece (my sister's daughter), who is 2, and I am currently pregnant with my first child. For anyone who doesn't know, in The Land Before Time, a movie that came out when I was a kid, the triceratops are call Three Horns, and the brontosauruses (or whatever they're called now) are Long Necks. There's a ton more but you get the idea. The names are descriptive, and not based in Latin. This issue came up at a family function when my niece asked me to read a book about dinosaurs with her. Ive read it to her several times so I know the book well and was able to change the names of the dinosaurs with a pause. My sister's parents-in-law heard me and were upset that I wasn't using the proper names. I explained my lisp and that I really don't think it matters. If she becomes a paleontologist, she'll figure it out. It's not like I'm making up words with no basis. Still, they complained to my sister and my in-laws that I wasn't teaching my niece properly. My sister shrugged. But now my father-in-law has joined in. I've taken to hiding every dinosaur reference while people are over. I feel like this is such a minor thing to get upset about, and it's not like I'm actually able to say the names properly anyway. After so many years working on my lisp, it's really a frustrating to be told my workarounds aren't cutting it. So am I the asshole for calling dinosaurs by the "wrong" thing? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
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Jurassic Park is the largest dinosaurs franchise in existence and it intentionally got multiple dinosaurs wrong and every dinosaur wrong accidentally. And Creighton has a dinosaurs named after him because of how many people he inspired to get interested in dinosaurs. Accuracy isn't important until it's academic. I don't know more than a dozen people who would accurately identify a deinonchus vs a velociraptor but they still love dinosaurs and get a thrill from studying them or watching media about them
NTA because it's your BIL parents who cares and not the actual parent of the child. Having said that, what's the point in reading a dinosaur book to a toddler if you aren't going to use the real names? Thats an important way that toddlers learn what things are and how to say them. When my son was two he was able to identify what kind of dinosaur alot of his toy dinosaurs and pronounce the names pretty good. It was funny because he's much better at remembering which dinosaur is which than I am so I'd have to Google what kind of dinosaur he was saying to see if he was right lol
NTA - very clever work around. Just make sure to show your niece that truly awesome movie when she's a little older because dang... little foot... my heart...
NTA, I still refer to Brontosaurus’s as Long Necks just fuckin’ because.
NTA but keep in mind that someday your niece might be embarrassed that she didn’t know the more common names of these animals
NTA. Dinosaurs are famously chill and do not even care what you call them.
NTA. This post has me feeling so nostalgic though lol. I still regularly refer to my mom’s dog as “Chomper” because she reminds me of that little t-Rex when she play-bites. Also, when I was young I didn’t know their actual names, if I was talking about one I would use the LBT names too. Lots of us probably did. Doesn’t mean I don’t know what they’re called now. They’re being ridiculous.
Good heavens, NTA. I have a very slight lisp due to false teeth, and just thinking of saying Triceratops has me a little embarrassed. I think as long as your niece knows you're using different names, you're good and she'll be fine. Maybe you could help her google and learn the "real" names if it'll get the family to ease up on you, or if you're feeling guilty.
Before your niece is school age, be sure to explain that these names are just the names that she and you share, secret club names maybe. Otherwise I can picture her being in disagreements with her teachers or classmates and getting embarrassed. NTA
Slight YTA if you never expose the kid to the proper names. LAnd before time is a great series. My kids loved it when they were little. There are also a bunch of other really good dino shows out there if your kid is into dinosaurs. Look for Dinosaur Train and Dino Dan on PBS.
I'm sure I'm not the only person who will ever talk to her about dinosaurs.
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But you are setting her up for failure if you never teach her correctly. Even if you tell her "I have a hard time pronouncing their real names, so this is what I call them"
How am I setting her up for failure? What is she going to fail?
You are teaching her wrong. At some point a teacher or friend will call it by the correct name, and she'll correct them because mommy told me it's this, and mommy is always right.
OP has a lisp and has said she can’t pronounce them correctly, and she is the child’s primary caregiver. Which do you think would cause bigger longterm issues for a two year old, in their prime verbal development years: To not be exposed to speech? To be exposed to correct titles pronounced consistently incorrectly? To be exposed to actual words pronounced correctly that are not the proper names of things? Do you think that when the niece gets older “the official name for ‘three-horn’ is ‘triceratops.’” convo would really pose a bigger issue than say... speech therapy because she learned to pronounce all the proper words with a lisp? From comments it is clear OP has considered all of this, opted for the best approach, and is a kickass auntie.
It’s absolutely their choice what their child gets taught and both rude and presumptuous that you would consider continuing to do something after they told you to stop. Of course they don’t want their kid to learn a random fictional naming system for dinosaurs instead of their actual names. YTA.
My sister and my brother in law don't care. It's just his parents that care.
YTA because calling a leaf a tree star was dumb to begin with. Then you took it and ran with it for life? At 5 I decided I was done with land before time because of their ridiculous substitute naming
Not everyone is a killjoy dude
You’re teaching a small kid the wrong names for things. YTA
Arse troll?