On the way to school…
Mark: “Why are trees called ‘trees’?”
Me (straining to figure out an answer for the five-year-old that does not involve Old English): “Weeelll, it’s the word we as the speakers of English have mutually agreed upon…”
Mark: “I know why.”
Kate (bloodhood-keen on the scent of a bluff): “Why?”
Mark: “Umm…” (inspiration strikes) “Actually, I don’t know. I’m stumped.”
He elbows his sister triumphantly. “Get it? Trees? Stumped?”
Kate: “Pfft.”
But his pun-based distraction ploy worked. She didn’t ask him again.
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