Antidisestablishmentarianism (and all those other -tarians)

The longest word I ever had on a spelling test was antidisestablishmentarianism, which was once purportedly the longest word in the dictionary (which dictionary? I don't know) and which more or less decries the separation of church and state, typically used in the ongoing debate about The Church of England (and whether or not they need a state-supported church). 

This was in grade four—the same age that Zoë is now! 

*****

Today in church the sister missionaries spoke and one of them talked about a humanitarian trip she took to Kenya when she was 17. So there I was, listening intently, when all of a sudden Zoë shoved her notebook over to me. She pointed to the top of her page where she'd written:

"What is humanitarian?"

I told her that it meant to "help humans (others)."

She read this with great relief because to her "it sound[ed] like eating humans, like, a vegetarian..."

I mean...we all know what vegetarians do...so what about those humanitarians?! After all, "they both end with -tarian."

She raises a good point!

If vegetarians eat...vegetables.

And pescatarians eat...fish.

What do humanitarians eat?!

I told her she was thinking of cannibalism, which that sweet little sister missionary was not talking about. 

Zoë was embarrassed about this mix up after the fact, so we asked her about various oils:

Where does corn oil come from? Corn.

Where does olive oil come from? Olives.

Where does canola oil come from? Canola. 

Where does baby oil come from?! Not babies!

Language can be a tricky thing. Just when you think you have a pattern figured out...something comes along to throw you off!