If you watched the early episode The Haircut, you probably noticed the scene where Beaver said to Ward after losing his haircut money "Dad, I losted the money." That's an example of very poor English because losted is not a word. It would have been proper grammar to say "Dad, I lost the money." Feel free to post any other examples of Beaver's poor use of the English language.

In spite of him getting older, he never really improved- and it's hard to believe that he could have been raised by June Cleaver but then again it's hard to believe that George Jefferson could have been raised by 'Mother' Olivia Jefferson for the same reason. I could imagine both mothers commiserating over their offspring's less proper grammar despite all their efforts.

He needs lessons on speaking good.

Beaver- “I told you ‘afore’ I’m not supposed to take it out alone.”

Wally- “Hey Dad can you drop Tooey and I off at the carnival?”

Wally- (Credit Card) “I just saw he and Eddie over at Eddie’s house.”

Beaver- “Did it make a short circus? for circuit

Beaver- Swift cheese for Swiss cheese. Says constellation prize for consolation.

Wally- ‘Can’t hardly’ and June corrects him.

Wally- Hey me and the Beaver are getting hungry. June says Wally the Beaver and I are getting hungry. Yeah I guess we’re all getting hungry.

When Beaver said "tricity" for electricity, June should have said, Beaver, you're too old to talk like that. It's electricity.

I was going to mention constellation prize, too.

Also Ward tried several times to correct Beaver when he said Middlesize village and town, to no avail.

When the boys come down to apologize to June in Visiting Aunts, she corrects Beaver on something, but I can't remember what.

One thing that really bugs me (in general) is misuse of me/I. Many people misuse I as the direct object, thinking they're right, as in, Please come with my wife and I on this wonderful cruise. You hear this misused in many scripted shows, on the radio, and on TV news. And it's so EASY to correct oneself by taking out the other part of the object and seeing how silly it sounds, as in Please come with I on this wonderful cruise.

I'm near the end of season 2 and Beaver saying "thunk" comes and goes a lot.

Yeah, thunk is a good one. Beaver was getting too old for that, too.

In Jerry's book he said he disliked talking like that.

Does any other kid in Beaver's class butcher the English language like Beaver does? The writers have him using bad english like a three year old would.

They all talk like normal kids (except Judy), but thinking about it, none of them butcher things like he does. I used to call it Beaver-speak.

Does any other kid in Beaver's class butcher the English language like Beaver does? The writers have him using bad english like a three year old would.

That's an interesting question. We'd never know since individual kids in his class aren't given much dialog as compared to Beaver on the show as a whole. A hallmark of many LITB episodes does seem to be a classroom scene where this seems to occur:

- Teacher brings class to order, states a subject of discussion or assignment thereof

- Kid in class, not necessarily Beaver, stands up and makes stupid remark or asks silly impertinent question.

- Another kid stands and either chimes in on the first kid's comment or rebuts it

- Another student does the same

- Teacher re-establishes order.

The other student's english may or may not stand out as much as their immature brashness.


FWIW, my younger brother ( 4 years younger than I am ) seemed to hold on to "baby talk" longer than any other of us ( there were 4 or us ). Though he was bright enough, scholastically, for his age, I still recall him having trouble pronouncing many words as late as age 8 or 9.

THREE would be "fwee", BRING would be "bwing", BATHROOM would be "bathoom", PLUTO would be "pwuto". He eventually got over it, but me and my friends used to razz him about it many times.

Of course some of this is being done just to add some comedy. Mosher might say, hey, my kid said (or says) 'tricity, or thunk, let's add some of that dialog for Beaver. And Mosher's kid could have been four.

And maybe the writers were told to pick up on that stuff, either from personal experience or anything they could come up with. Thus, short circus, constellation prize, etc.

I can understand why Mathers would dislike it, being 8 or 9, especially when the other kids weren't given silly dialog.

Bwing, Pwuto, etc. sounds like stuff a kid would eventually grow out of, and some things like a lisp can be exacerbated by a missing baby tooth, possibly. They had scripts about Cindy Brady's baby talk, which she eventually grew out of. I imagine some of that would be hard to fake, so maybe she did that talk for real and they wrote it in.

and some things like a lisp can be exacerbated by a missing baby tooth, possibly. They had scripts about Cindy Brady's baby talk, which she eventually grew out of. I imagine some of that would be hard to fake, so maybe she did that talk for real and they wrote it in.

I had a lisp for a long time. I had to go to speech therapy. I used to say "Please *s*h*i*t here, instead of please sit here". As a preacher's daughter that would never do.

Due to Cindy's lisp, Buddy Hinton ended up with a fat lip courtesy of Peter.

Due to Cindy's lisp, Buddy Hinton ended up with a fat lip courtesy of Peter.

"Baby talk, baby talk...it's a wonder you can walk" :)

There's a tie in to Beaver's bad english. It's not baby talk mispronounced. It's poor memorization of the words. Then Beaver just makes up a word like thunk. Beaver never seems to be street smart like the other kids in the class when it comes to people pulling pranks and cons like Larry constantly does. Larry never could pull the Beaver stuff he pulls on Gilbert, Whitey or the other friends. The writers are making Beaver borderline mentally challenged in some aspects so there's a funny script premise to work with.

The writers are making Beaver borderline mentally challenged in some aspects so there's a funny script premise to work with.

and I want to throw things at the tv when they do.

I should also add in the same Haircut episode that Beaver told the barber "Our phone is discontinued."

Parents are supposed to make an effort to prepare kids for their adult lives, which would include correcting their incorrect speech. He says thunk, correct him to thought, it's your job!

If Ward one day sat Beaver down and explained not to fall for every scheme, tall tale, possible activity that could get him in trouble, that Larry spews out it would wipeout most of the Larry episodes.

how about in the beaver and pat ep where he tells ward and june that he babysitted instead of babysat for the murdocks little girl

If Ward one day sat Beaver down and explained not to fall for every scheme, tall tale, possible activity that could get him in trouble, that Larry spews out it would wipeout most of the Larry episodes.

Yep, the best the writers can do in a scripted show like this is put out the little fires one episode at a time.

how about in the beaver and pat ep where he tells ward and june that he babysitted instead of babysat for the murdocks little girl

There's another one I forgot!

I also have another one. When Beaver starts a number of sentences with "Well I..."

Oh yeah don't get me started on that! To me he kind of says it like "wool".

In Wally's Test, Beaver talks about getting their room "neated up." (By the way, the TV Guide summary of this episode is wrong: "Eddie and Wally conspire to cheat on a school test.")

What a swell thread!

They all talk like normal kids (except Judy), but thinking about it, none of them butcher things like he does. I used to call it Beaver-speak.

I used to date a girl from Lynn MA in her 30's and she would leave out parts of words or even whole words when conversing !

I'd say WHAT ? you left out words !

and she would say it was just SLANG ! lol

Here's another example of Beaver's poor English. When he and Wally were gypped out of something, he didn't say "We were taken." Instead he said "We were tooken." Tooken is not a word.

In Beaver Gets ‘Spelled, another Beaver word (spelled) he tells Miss Canfield how his father was sick and had some epidemics or symptoms.

Yes stevea, I can’t believe how many ‘educated’ people like journalists and even political people, not that they’re all brilliant, use I as direct object. It all started with the Between you and I generation. Once Chuck Shumer said he had a picture of Hillary and I. Judge Judy said “so you didn’t feel comfortable living next to he and his girlfriend.’ This from a woman who is always correcting others’ English. They think just use ‘I’ and you can’t lose. Norah O’Donnell asked Gayle to buy a lottery ticket for Charlie and I before Charlie Rose became another casualty of broadcast news. Wonder if that sleaze, Lauer, spoke bad English?

I think I once heard Lauer misuse I/me; I'm pretty sure I've heard Couric do it too. Locally we had a guy on radio who said, Come with Phyllis and I on a cruise to, etc. It just grated on me! Like nails on a blackboard.

And as I said in the other post it's such a simple thing to determine before you screw it up.

I heard Beaver bungle another one today, but Ward did correct him. Don't remember what it was.

Oh, and another thing is misusing possessive apostrophes, particularly with it's and its. (Just a moderator reminder on here, though--it's against board rules to diss or correct someone's post due to grammar.) Here is the ultimate book on the subject of grammar and usage:

https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Style-Fourth-William-Strunk-dp-020530902X/dp/020530902X/ref=dp_ob_image_bk

Here's another example of Beaver's poor English. When he and Wally were gypped out of something, he didn't say "We were taken." Instead he said "We were tooken." Tooken is not a word.

Around here he would have said, "We was tooken." We was, is big around here.

Right. All they have to do is drop the other person and you’re golden. Joining us today along with (Willie) and me is Steve A.

One time and I think it was Wally Stays at Lumpy’s Ward says “you better let your mother and I go in and discuss this.” I’m surprise he didn’t know better.

just think of today's younger ones growing up with texting ... 4 for for, u for you ... and never completely learning their multiplication tables lol

One thing that really bugs me (in general) is misuse of me/I. Many people misuse I as the direct object, thinking they're right, as in, Please come with my wife and I on this wonderful cruise. You hear this misused in many scripted shows, on the radio, and on TV news.

OMG! This drives me insane! I've even started hearing it on British shows. And its the easiest thing the world to understand. Everybody knows when to use us vs. we. It's the SAME thing!

just think of today's younger ones growing up with texting ... 4 for for, u for you ... and never completely learning their multiplication tables lol

And never having to know your way around--just let GPS or Siri find it for you, and hope you're not directed onto a closed road

I’m just amazed how many journalists use ‘he’ for him and no one tells them it’s wrong. Are they afraid to correct their English? I thought I heard Biden use ‘I’ instead of me but not sure. Once Anna Werner really made a grammatical gaffe. “She had completed her tax forms for she and her husband.’ Kids are learning to speak English from these people? What’s wrong with using her, him, me and us? When you hear a litigant on Judge Judy say ‘ He had given a surprise party to him and me.’ It’s so refreshing.

A girl I worked with said ‘Wanna see a picture of my husband and I?’ I almost said that’s my husband and me.’

When you hear a litigant on Judge Judy say ‘ He had given a surprise party to him and me.’ It’s so refreshing.


A lot of times it'd be "He had given a surprise party to me and him."

Years ago on a court show a lady busted someone's car windshield. The judge asked "why did you do it"? The litigant replied "she axed (dare request) me to do it".

Bevaer's talking about finding a wallet and what happened when he and Larry take it to the police station. "Here's even the recipe the man gave me." Come on, W&J, correct him and tell him it's receipt. He'll remember next time!

OMG! This drives me insane! I've even started hearing it on British shows. And its the easiest thing the world to understand. Everybody knows when to use us vs. we. It's the SAME thing!

Here's another one I just heard on the radio (sorry, not Beaver related): (a dentist advertising his services) "Myself and my experienced team will..." (etc.)

Egad that SOUNDS so bad! Should be "My experienced team and I will..." or, this is really wrong, but better, since it sounds like he's emphasizing himself--"I and my experienced team will...".

From Wally's Election:

June: Well, hi there, Beaver. How was the cake sale at school?

Beaver: It was real neat, Mom. Our class sold six cakes, and two dozen cookies, and Angela Valentine bought a Baked Alaskan, and your cake got a dollar seventy-five.

So, they're baking Alaskans at Grant Avenue School, eh?

From Wally's Election:

June: Well, hi there, Beaver. How was the cake sale at school?

Beaver: It was real neat, Mom. Our class sold six cakes, and two dozen cookies, and Angela Valentine bought a Baked Alaskan, and your cake got a dollar seventy-five.

So, they're baking Alaskans at Grant Avenue School, eh?

That reminds me of the "Honolulu Punch" that Beaver was going to serve Andy Hadlock. I think it must have been a case of the writers not wanting to use the real names of the products (Hawaian Punch and Baked Alaska), so they tweaked them slightly.