--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I was little, I didn’t understand…" description: "\"“When I was little, I didn’t understand that you could change a few sounds in a name or a phrase and have it mean something entirely different. When I ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ab/lorrie-moore-870_billie-holiday_when-i-was-little-i-didn-t-understand-th_1541305.png" --- # When I was little, I didn’t understand that you could… ![“When I was little, I didn’t understand that you could change a few sounds in a name or a phrase and have it mean something entirely different. When I told teachers my name was Benna and they said, “Donna who?” I would say, “Donna Gilbert.” I thought close was good enough, that sloppiness was…” quote by Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ab/lorrie-moore-870_billie-holiday_when-i-was-little-i-didn-t-understand-th_1541305.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ab/lorrie-moore-870_billie-holiday_when-i-was-little-i-didn-t-understand-th_1541305.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ab/lorrie-moore-870_billie-holiday_when-i-was-little-i-didn-t-understand-th_1541305.png) > ““When I was little, I didn’t understand that you could change a few sounds in a name or a phrase and have it mean something entirely different. When I told teachers my name was Benna and they said, “Donna who?” I would say, “Donna Gilbert.” I thought close was good enough, that sloppiness was generally built into the language. I thought Bing Crosby and Bill Crosby were the same person. That Buddy Holly and Billie Holiday were the same person. That Leon Trotsky and Leo Tolstoy were the same person. It was a shock for me quite late in life to discover that Jean Cocteau and Jacques Cousteau were not even related. Meaning, if it existed at all, was unstable and could not survive the slightest reshuffling of letters. One gust of wind and Santa became Satan. A slip of the pen and pears turned into pearls. A little interior decorating and the world became her twold, an ungrammatical and unkind assessment of an aging aunt in a singles bar. Add a d to poor, you got droop. It was that way in biology, too. Add a chromosome, get a criminal. Subtract one, get an idiot or a chipmunk. That was the way with things.”” [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Language’s meaning is fragile; small changes in spelling or sound can completely alter interpretation, revealing how we rely on conventions to make sense of the world. **In simple terms:** Words change meaning with tiny alterations. Key Takeaway Pay attention to precise language. Themes language meaning interpretation communication identity Mood curious reflective Type observational critical When to use this quote - writing - teaching - cross‑cultural communication - legal drafting - editing Key Concepts semantics phonetics social constructs Questions to Reflect On - How do you verify the intended meaning of a word? - What role does context play in shaping interpretation? A Different Perspective Meaning can be ambiguous and context‑dependent, leading to misunderstandings. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Billie holiday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/billie-holiday/) [Buddy Holly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buddy-holly/) [Good enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-enough/) [Interior decorating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interior-decorating/) [Jacques cousteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jacques-cousteau/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jean-cocteau-222699/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leo-tolstoy/) [Leon Trotsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leon-trotsky-226830/) [Said Donna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said-donna-5741379/) [Say Donna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/say-donna-3330457/) [Sounds Phrase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sounds-phrase-5741380/) [Tolstoy Person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tolstoy-person-5741378/) ## Related quotes > [I was always in trouble for chatting. 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On that day the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-wright-mills/here-s-to-the-day-when-the-complete-works-of-leon-trotsky-are/) [C. Wright Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-wright-mills/) > [The cinema is - in Jean Cocteau’s famous words - ‘a dream that can be dreamt by many people at the same time’.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wain/the-cinema-is-in-jean-cocteau-s-famous-words-a-dream-that-can-be/) [John Wain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wain/) > [“we should listen to Leon Trotsky. “Revolution is impossible until it is inevitable,” he told us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-g-chang/we-should-listen-to-leon-trotsky-revolution-is-impossible-until-it-is/) [Gordon G. Chang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-g-chang/) > [“The historical truth is a fiction. OK, I did whatever I could to find out what happened from surviving friends, family and media, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-pryor/the-historical-truth-is-a-fiction-ok-i-did-whatever-i-could-to-find/) [William Pryor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-pryor/) > [I wanted to meet other artists. I suppose I simply felt that I was taking pot shots at clay pipes. Pop! Down goes Gertrude,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/i-wanted-to-meet-other-artists-i-suppose-i-simply-felt-that-i-was/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) > [“Jean Cocteau--my artist friend since our early days--let himself be guided throughout his full life by the principle: "I love to love. I hate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arno-breker/jean-cocteau-my-artist-friend-since-our-early-days-let-himself-be/) [Arno Breker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arno-breker/) > [If you walk into a coffee shop in 1903 Vienna, you might find at the same table the artist Gustav Klimt, Sigmund Freud, Leon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/if-you-walk-into-a-coffee-shop-in-1903-vienna-you-might-find-at-the/) [Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/) > [ Trotsky found out about him - Leon Trotsky - because A.J.\[Muste\] worked. He was an activist. And he organized the first sit-in strike in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/trotsky-found-out-about-him-leon-trotsky-because-a-j-muste-worked-he/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [ “\[Jürgen Habermas' obituary to friend and philosopher, Richard Rorty\] One small autobiographical piece by Rorty bears the title 'Wild Orchids and Trotsky.' In it,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jurgen-habermas/j-rgen-habermas-obituary-to-friend-and-philosopher-richard-rorty-one/) [Jürgen Habermas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jurgen-habermas/) > [Leon Trotsky, Stalin's worst enemy, was far and away his most influential 20th-century interpreter, shaping the views of a generation of historians, from Isaac…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/leon-trotsky-stalin-s-worst-enemy-was-far-and-away-his-most/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [“But it is not glorious lulls that concern me. It is the lulls that have no velocity, that offer no structured reassurance, that bloom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyo-maclear/but-it-is-not-glorious-lulls-that-concern-me-it-is-the-lulls-that/) [Kyo Maclear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyo-maclear/) > [ \[Joseph\] Stalin closes the exposition of these \[Leon Trotsky\] ideas with the words, "Such are in general the characteristic features of \[Vladimir\] Lenin's conception… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-trotsky/joseph-stalin-closes-the-exposition-of-these-leon-trotsky-ideas-with/) [Leon Trotsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-trotsky/) ## More by Lorrie Moore > [But I believed in starting over. There was finally, I knew, only rupture and hurt and falling short between all persons, but, Shirley, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/but-i-believed-in-starting-over-there-was-finally-i-knew-only-rupture/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [I'm very interested in what people will do for money. Money: it's timeless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/i-m-very-interested-in-what-people-will-do-for-money-money-it-s/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“One of the problems with people in Chicago, she remembered, was that they were never lonely at the same time. Their sadness occurred in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/one-of-the-problems-with-people-in-chicago-she-remembered-was-that/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“If you had forgotten, it would quickly come back to you. Aloneness was like riding a bike. At gunpoint. With the gun in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/if-you-had-forgotten-it-would-quickly-come-back-to-you-aloneness-was/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [Once love had seemed like magic. Now it seemed like tricks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/once-love-had-seemed-like-magic-now-it-seemed-like-tricks/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“Observing others go through them, he used to admire midlife crises, the courage and shamelessness and existential daring of them, but after he'd watched…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/observing-others-go-through-them-he-used-to-admire-midlife-crises-the/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [Start dating someone who is funny, someone who has what in high school you called a "really great sense of humor" and what now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/start-dating-someone-who-is-funny-someone-who-has-what-in-high-school/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [You are unhappy because you believe in such a thing as happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/you-are-unhappy-because-you-believe-in-such-a-thing-as-happy/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“Amber was not shy. If she had been shy, not one of us would be at Perkins right now.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/amber-was-not-shy-if-she-had-been-shy-not-one-of-us-would-be-at/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [People will do anything, anything, for a really nice laugh,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/people-will-do-anything-anything-for-a-really-nice-laugh/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“Farmers aren't rich. They have land but no money." Actually, my father didn't even have that much land. He had once stood on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/farmers-aren-t-rich-they-have-land-but-no-money-actually-my-father/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“My grandmother, who, when I visited, stared at me with the staggering, arrogant stare of the dying, the wise vapidity of the already gone;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/my-grandmother-who-when-i-visited-stared-at-me-with-the-staggering/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [I count too heavily on birthdays, though I know I shouldn't. Inevitably I begin to assess my life by them, figure out how I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/i-count-too-heavily-on-birthdays-though-i-know-i-shouldn-t-inevitably/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“Life is sad. Here is someone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/life-is-sad-here-is-someone/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [I had never feared insomnia before--like prison, wouldn't it just give you more time to read?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/i-had-never-feared-insomnia-before-like-prison-wouldn-t-it-just-give/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) [Explore all 340 Lorrie Moore quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) ## More Billie holiday quotes > [My mother says I was two-and-a-half when I started playing. My father was a minister, and when he went to church in the morning,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tori-amos/my-mother-says-i-was-two-and-a-half-when-i-started-playing-my-father/) [Tori Amos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tori-amos/) > [With few exceptions, every major pop singer in the US during her generation has been touched in some way by her genius. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-sinatra/with-few-exceptions-every-major-pop-singer-in-the-us-during-her/) [Frank Sinatra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-sinatra/) > [Billie Holiday's voice was the voice of living intensity of soul in the true sense of that greatly abused word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-feather/billie-holiday-s-voice-was-the-voice-of-living-intensity-of-soul-in/) [Leonard Feather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-feather/) > [I love to sing old Motown songs to myself, or some Patti Smith Edith Piaf or Billie Holiday. That gets me in the mood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siobhan-fahey/i-love-to-sing-old-motown-songs-to-myself-or-some-patti-smith-edith/) [Siobhan Fahey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siobhan-fahey/) > [ The other songs \[of Billie Holiday\] - "Body and Soul" is like the standard - I also wanted some songs that I knew I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-james/the-other-songs-of-billie-holiday-body-and-soul-is-like-the-standard/) [Jose James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-james/) > [“Beyond the table, there is an altar, with candles lit for Billie Holiday and Willa Carter and Hypatia and Patsy Cline. Next to it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmen-maria-machado/beyond-the-table-there-is-an-altar-with-candles-lit-for-billie/) [Carmen Maria Machado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmen-maria-machado/) > [ \[Billie Holiday\] was keeping it super real, and you can feel that to this day. Everything that she sang, she believed in. So I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-james/billie-holiday-was-keeping-it-super-real-and-you-can-feel-that-to/) [Jose James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-james/) > [My big influences are Joni Mitchell, and a lot of classical and Indian music, as well as Nina Simone and the personal blues and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yael-naim/my-big-influences-are-joni-mitchell-and-a-lot-of-classical-and-indian/) [Yael Naim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yael-naim/) > [“He died at forty-two. I was there to collect his talent. I was there at the hospital deathbed of my beloved Billie Holiday, just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-died-at-forty-two-i-was-there-to-collect-his-talent-i-was-there-at/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [I know I idolise someone like Billie Holiday, but I don't look at her and think I have to imitate her lifestyle, to try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-stansfield/i-know-i-idolise-someone-like-billie-holiday-but-i-don-t-look-at-her/) [Lisa Stansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-stansfield/) > [I feel like, in many ways, Billie Holiday's still very under-appreciated as an artist. People focus on her voice, and all of the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-james/i-feel-like-in-many-ways-billie-holiday-s-still-very-under/) [Jose James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-james/) > [I know the history of the record business so well because I followed Billie Holiday into the record studios. It was so primitive compared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-bennett/i-know-the-history-of-the-record-business-so-well-because-i-followed/) [Tony Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-bennett/) > [If you look at the other singers of Billie Holiday's time, they were really trying to entertain. They were trying to make people feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-james/if-you-look-at-the-other-singers-of-billie-holiday-s-time-they-were/) [Jose James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-james/) > [I also tried to focus on songs that Billie Holiday wrote, songs that she had a hand in shaping, like "Strange Fruit"; songs that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-james/i-also-tried-to-focus-on-songs-that-billie-holiday-wrote-songs-that/) [Jose James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-james/) > [I've made my own music, and the way I've always described it is Peggy Lee with an electric guitar, or Billie Holiday with some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-rachel-wood/i-ve-made-my-own-music-and-the-way-i-ve-always-described-it-is-peggy/) [Evan Rachel Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-rachel-wood/) [Browse all 86 Billie holiday quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/billie-holiday/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When I was little, I didn’t understand that you could change a few sounds in a name or a phrase and have it mean something entirely different. When I told teachers my name was Benna and they said, “Donna who?” I would say, “Donna Gilbert.” I thought close was good enough, that sloppiness was generally built into the language. I thought Bing Crosby and Bill Crosby were the same person. That Buddy Holly and Billie Holiday were the same person. That Leon Trotsky and Leo Tolstoy were the same person. It was a shock for me quite late in life to discover that Jean Cocteau and Jacques Cousteau were not even related. Meaning, if it existed at all, was unstable and could not survive the slightest reshuffling of letters. One gust of wind and Santa became Satan. A slip of the pen and pears turned into pearls. A little interior decorating and the world became her twold, an ungrammatical and unkind assessment of an aging aunt in a singles bar. Add a d to poor, you got droop. It was that way in biology, too. Add a chromosome, get a criminal. Subtract one, get an idiot or a chipmunk. That was the way with things.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lorrie Moore" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/when-i-was-little-i-didn-t-understand-that-you-could-change-a-few/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Billie holiday" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/when-i-was-little-i-didn-t-understand-that-you-could-change-a-few/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ab/lorrie-moore-870_billie-holiday_when-i-was-little-i-didn-t-understand-th_1541305.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ab/lorrie-moore-870_billie-holiday_when-i-was-little-i-didn-t-understand-th_1541305.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ab/lorrie-moore-870_billie-holiday_when-i-was-little-i-didn-t-understand-th_1541305.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When I was little, I didn’t understand that you could change a few sounds in a name or a phrase and have it…” — Lorrie Moore", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Lorrie Moore", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“When I was little, I didn’t...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/when-i-was-little-i-didn-t-understand-that-you-could-change-a-few/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/when-i-was-little-i-didn-t-understand-that-you-could-change-a-few/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```