--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I was a little boy, I thought when I…" description: "\"When I was a little boy, I thought when I grew up I would talk Yiddish. I thought little kids talked English, but when they became adults, they would t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c56/mel-brooks-2308_adults_when-i-was-a-little-boy-i-thought-when-i_2098090.jpg" --- # When I was a little boy, I thought when I grew up I would… ![“When I was a little boy, I thought when I grew up I would talk Yiddish. I thought little kids talked English, but when they became adults, they would talk Yiddish like the adults did. There would be no reason to talk English anymore, because we would have made it.” quote by Mel Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c56/mel-brooks-2308_adults_when-i-was-a-little-boy-i-thought-when-i_2098090.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c56/mel-brooks-2308_adults_when-i-was-a-little-boy-i-thought-when-i_2098090.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c56/mel-brooks-2308_adults_when-i-was-a-little-boy-i-thought-when-i_2098090.jpg) > “When I was a little boy, I thought when I grew up I would talk Yiddish. I thought little kids talked English, but when they became adults, they would talk Yiddish like the adults did. There would be no reason to talk English anymore, because we would have made it.” [Mel Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-brooks/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Children imagine language as a marker of adulthood, but identity is more complex. **In simple terms:** Language identity evolves. Key Takeaway Embrace linguistic diversity. Themes identity language growth Mood thoughtful humorous Type cultural reflective When to use this quote - education - family dynamics - multilingualism Key Concepts cultural assimilation personal development Questions to Reflect On - How does language shape your identity? - What influences your language preferences? A Different Perspective Language choice is influenced by many factors beyond age. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adults](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adults/) [Boys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boys/) [Grew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grew/) [Grew Talk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grew-talk-3018692/) [Grew up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grew-up/) [Kids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kids/) [Little Boy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-boy/) [Little boys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-boys/) [Little kid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-kid/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Made it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made-it/) [No reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/no-reason/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Talk Yiddish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talk-yiddish-4179008/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) [Yiddish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yiddish/) [Yiddish Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yiddish-like-4179010/) [Yiddish Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yiddish-thought-4179009/) ## Related quotes > [“It’s Yiddish. Like…Ikh hob dikh lib.” Evie narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “What does that mean?” Sam smiled. “Maybe one day I’ll tell you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/it-s-yiddish-like-ikh-hob-dikh-lib-evie-narrowed-her-eyes-in/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) > [I rejected being a lot of things that I grew up in, and yet I didn't. I got all my tactics from where I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelsan-ellis/i-rejected-being-a-lot-of-things-that-i-grew-up-in-and-yet-i-didn-t-i/) [Nelsan Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelsan-ellis/) > [On 'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' I remember that sometime in Season 3, there was a Yiddish phrase, 'Kinahura,' and a friend of mine who was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-weide/on-curb-your-enthusiasm-i-remember-that-sometime-in-season-3-there/) [Robert B. Weide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-weide/) > [Well, I like how people talk. I like language. You know, Linda Richman spoke in Yiddish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-myers/well-i-like-how-people-talk-i-like-language-you-know-linda-richman/) [Mike Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-myers/) > [Yiddish, the language which will ever bear witness to the violence and murder inflicted on us, bear the marks of our expulsions from land…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i-l-peretz/yiddish-the-language-which-will-ever-bear-witness-to-the-violence-and/) [I. L. Peretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/i-l-peretz/) > [Growing up in California, my best friend was Morris Rabinowitz and we often went to the Yiddish Theater.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-sinatra-jr/growing-up-in-california-my-best-friend-was-morris-rabinowitz-and-we/) [Frank Sinatra Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-sinatra-jr/) > [There's not one Yiddish word that is not perfectly funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-rainbow/there-s-not-one-yiddish-word-that-is-not-perfectly-funny/) [Randy Rainbow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-rainbow/) > [Not now, for the last three thousand years, Hebrew has been penetrated and fertilized by ancient Semitic languages - by Aramaic, by Greek, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/not-now-for-the-last-three-thousand-years-hebrew-has-been-penetrated/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [There are nineteen words in Yiddish that convey gradations of disparagement, from a mild, fluttery helplessness to a state of downright, irreconcilable brutishness. All…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-j-perelman/there-are-nineteen-words-in-yiddish-that-convey-gradations-of/) [S. J. Perelman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-j-perelman/) > [I heard Yiddish when my father's family came to the house, which was as seldom as my mother could arrange it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-heard-yiddish-when-my-father-s-family-came-to-the-house-which-was/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“My Grandmother Bella would say in Yiddish, "Gouta Zeh,Gouta Zeh,Let The Other One Be Right!" My Italian friend Nick's Grandmother said,"It is A Better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grandma-bella-and-belli/my-grandmother-bella-would-say-in-yiddish-gouta-zeh-gouta-zeh-let-the/) [Grandma Bella and Belli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grandma-bella-and-belli/) > [On a crowded bus in Israel, a mother was speaking to her son in Yiddish. An Israeli woman reprimanded her. "You should be speaking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirk-douglas/on-a-crowded-bus-in-israel-a-mother-was-speaking-to-her-son-in/) [Kirk Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirk-douglas/) > [“He was distressed to learn that the Pottery Barn Kids gift registry did not extend to children's books in Italian or Yiddish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvain-reynard/he-was-distressed-to-learn-that-the-pottery-barn-kids-gift-registry/) [Sylvain Reynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvain-reynard/) > [“LIFE is the biggest bargain you can get.You get it for FREE! Yiddish saying”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yiddish/life-is-the-biggest-bargain-you-can-get-you-get-it-for-free-yiddish/) [Yiddish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yiddish/) > [“Love great first lines and paragraphs. From The Yiddish Policemen's Union: Nine months Landsman's been flopping at the Hotel Zamenhof without any of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/love-great-first-lines-and-paragraphs-from-the-yiddish-policemen-s/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) ## More by Mel Brooks > [Woody Allen is a genius. His films are wonderful. He's poetic, but he's also a critic. He artfully steps back from a social setting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-brooks/woody-allen-is-a-genius-his-films-are-wonderful-he-s-poetic-but-he-s/) [Mel Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-brooks/) > [ Comedy is lively, comedy is joy, and that's what keeps us \[people\] going, we've got to look forward to little, little happiness's. Little, little… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-brooks/comedy-is-lively-comedy-is-joy-and-that-s-what-keeps-us-people-going/) [Mel Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-brooks/) > [All right, I am often brash, rude and brutally direct. Someday I'm going to die and I don't have time to toe-dance around the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-brooks/all-right-i-am-often-brash-rude-and-brutally-direct-someday-i-m-going/) [Mel Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-brooks/) > [I don't think in terms of results at all. I think: what next insanity can I shock the world with?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-brooks/i-don-t-think-in-terms-of-results-at-all-i-think-what-next-insanity/) [Mel Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-brooks/) > [My mother is very short - four-eleven. She could walk under tables and never hit her head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-brooks/my-mother-is-very-short-four-eleven-she-could-walk-under-tables-and/) [Mel Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-brooks/) > [The audience. They see the name Mel Brooks, they want something really funny. They don't want to be moved; they don't want to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-brooks/the-audience-they-see-the-name-mel-brooks-they-want-something-really/) [Mel Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-brooks/) > [I realised that all one really had to do was just observe. Observe and slightly exaggerate, and you had comedy. Instead of creating a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-brooks/i-realised-that-all-one-really-had-to-do-was-just-observe-observe-and/) [Mel Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-brooks/) > [Life literally abounds in comedy if you just look around you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-brooks/life-literally-abounds-in-comedy-if-you-just-look-around-you/) [Mel Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-brooks/) > [Look, I really don't want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you're alive, you got to flap your arms and legs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-brooks/look-i-really-don-t-want-to-wax-philosophic-but-i-will-say-that-if/) [Mel Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-brooks/) > [I knew it... I'm surrounded by assholes!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-brooks/i-knew-it-i-m-surrounded-by-assholes/) [Mel Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-brooks/) > [I was in the army, and to me it was like a newsreel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-brooks/i-was-in-the-army-and-to-me-it-was-like-a-newsreel/) [Mel Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-brooks/) > [But I have bad taste with a deep fount of intellectuality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-brooks/but-i-have-bad-taste-with-a-deep-fount-of-intellectuality/) [Mel Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-brooks/) > ['Mad About You' was very fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-brooks/mad-about-you-was-very-fun/) [Mel Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-brooks/) > [Immortality is a by-product of good work. Masterpieces are not for artists, they're for critics. Critics can't even make music by rubbing their back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-brooks/immortality-is-a-by-product-of-good-work-masterpieces-are-not-for/) [Mel Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-brooks/) > [If Ivan the Terrible had been kissed and loved between zero and three, he probably would have become Ivan Not So Terrible. If you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-brooks/if-ivan-the-terrible-had-been-kissed-and-loved-between-zero-and-three/) [Mel Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-brooks/) [Explore all 173 Mel Brooks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-brooks/) ## More Adults quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. Expressing gratitude by writing in a journal, taking a photo, or shooting a video creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-kaplan/gratitude-isn-t-just-a-feeling-it-s-an-action-expressing-gratitude-by/) [Janice Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-kaplan/) > [The thing about hitting kids is, think about if you were doing the same thing to another adult. Hitting your kid is really the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/the-thing-about-hitting-kids-is-think-about-if-you-were-doing-the/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [Plainly, the environment must be a living one, directed by a higher intelligence, arranged by an adult who is prepared for his mission.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/plainly-the-environment-must-be-a-living-one-directed-by-a-higher/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [Almost everywhere we find . . . the use of various coercive measures, to rid ourselves as quickly as possible of the child withinus--i.e.,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-miller/almost-everywhere-we-find-the-use-of-various-coercive-measures-to-rid/) [Alice Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-miller/) > [Education, for most people, means trying to lead the child to resemble the typical adult of his society . . . but for me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-piaget/education-for-most-people-means-trying-to-lead-the-child-to-resemble/) [Jean Piaget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-piaget/) > [I do not believe in public shaming. I do believe that young adults go to college to learn things, and that this process will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-weingarten/i-do-not-believe-in-public-shaming-i-do-believe-that-young-adults-go/) [Gene Weingarten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-weingarten/) > [The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance”: “The differences between expert performers and normal adults are not immutable, that is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-anders-ericsson/the-role-of-deliberate-practice-in-the-acquisition-of-expert/) [K. Anders Ericsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-anders-ericsson/) > [Part of life is doing stuff that you don't want to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/one-who-does-not-wish-to-be-named/part-of-life-is-doing-stuff-that-you-don-t-want-to-do/) [One Who Does Not Wish To Be Named](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/one-who-does-not-wish-to-be-named/) > [ He \[an earnest young reporter\] seemed to share the view of many intelligent, well-educated, well-meaning people that, while adult literature may aim to be… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/he-an-earnest-young-reporter-seemed-to-share-the-view-of-many/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [Kids, if anything, are harder to write for because they are a more discerning audience. They will not stay with you if you go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/kids-if-anything-are-harder-to-write-for-because-they-are-a-more/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [On the one hand, we had great filmic spectacles that brought in big audiences, adults as well as primary and secondary school students. On…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrzej-wajda/on-the-one-hand-we-had-great-filmic-spectacles-that-brought-in-big/) [Andrzej Wajda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrzej-wajda/) > [It's hard to change adults, and it's hard to change it from a political position or a perceived political position.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-obama/it-s-hard-to-change-adults-and-it-s-hard-to-change-it-from-a/) [Michelle Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-obama/) > [When I was a child at sixteen, I was just a child. All sixteen year-olds are just children. As much as we like them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-abagnale/when-i-was-a-child-at-sixteen-i-was-just-a-child-all-sixteen-year/) [Frank Abagnale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-abagnale/) [Browse all 3,113 Adults quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adults/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I was a little boy, I thought when I grew up I would talk Yiddish. I thought little kids talked English, but when they became adults, they would talk Yiddish like the adults did. 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