I was grading Noah's school work. I circled a couple things and wrote "omit" next to them. When he went to correct his work, he saw my note and said, "I can't read what you wrote. It looks like o-m-i-t. What is that?" Is it possible that he's been alive almost 16 years and doesn't know the meaning of a fairly simple word like "omit"? If that's true, then Sarah probably doesn't know either. Time to get teaching!
Me: Sarah, do you know what the word "omit" means?
Sarah: Yes.
Me: Oh, good.
Noah: What does it mean?
Sarah: It means "to pay".
Me: What? No, that's not what it means!
Noah: It must be a church word.
Me: It's not a church word.
Noah: If I don't know a word, it's usually a church word. It sounds like something old church people say. "Omit your sins to God!"
Me: That's "admit", not "omit".
Sarah: "Omit yourself to God."
Me: No, that's "commit". "Omit" means to leave out. As in, "I omitted the teaching of the word 'omit' from your education."
Noah: Nobody in our generation uses that word.
Sarah: Nobody. We've never heard of it.
[A few minutes later, Mike wanders into the room.]
Noah: Hey, Dad! Do you know what "omit" means?
Mike: Doesn't it mean to leave out?
Noah and Sarah smirk at each other as if they've proven that it's a word only old people know.
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