My 8 year-old is a wordsmith.
Since he was a baby he's loved words. I remember holding him face-to-face with me, talking to him, and how he studied my face then worked his own mouth to mimic mine, his little baby-brows furrowed as he seemed to be thinking, How is she doing that?
When he finally did learn to talk he spoke clear, well enunciated words. No problem with r's or l's that sound like w's. Nope, it was evident he'd been practicing and paying attention to how people speak.
He loves to repeat the words that appeal to him and even concocts his own definitions. For example, yesterday I hauled out a stack of videos to see if any interested him:
"They're a bit gender, Mom."
"Gender? What do you mean by gender?"
"I know gender refers to 'boy or girl', but today I'm using it to mean 'a little young'."
Last night I treated them to Wendy's meals and when Chris got his food he ate a french fry and said, "This food is totally artificial!"
"Artificial? You don't like it?
"I love it. I mean artificial as in great!"
"Chris, artificial means 'man-made'," said Alex.
"I know, but these are 'man made' and they taste great!"
I'm thinking my kid just might be President, one day.