CHILDREN pick up words as pigeons peas and utter them again as God shall please

Insights

Unconscious Learning and Mimicry

The proverb symbolizes the automatic and indiscriminate nature of early learning. Like a pigeon gathering food, a child's mind gathers linguistic information from its environment without filter or judgment.

Unpredictable Expression

The phrase 'as God shall please' metaphorically represents the randomness and lack of social filtering in a child's speech. It suggests that their utterances are not governed by logic or social appropriateness but by a force as arbitrary and uncontrollable as divine will.

Reflection of Environment

It implies that a child's language is a direct reflection of their environment. The 'peas' they 'pick up' are the words of those around them, highlighting the profound influence of caregivers and society on a child's development.

Divine Will and Childhood Innocence

The reference to 'God' reflects a pre-psychological worldview where a child's unpredictable speech was attributed to divine will rather than a developing consciousness, framing their utterances as acts of innocent, uncontrollable spontaneity.

Literary Echoes

Shakespeare's adaptation in 'Love's Labour's Lost'—'This fellow pecks up wit as pigeons pease'—applies the proverb to an adult, subtly critiquing pretentious knowledge that is merely mimicked rather than truly understood.

A Cautionary Tale

The proverb serves as a timeless folk warning to adults about the impressionable nature of children, reminding them that their words, picked up indiscriminately, may be repeated in the most unexpected or inopportune contexts.

Psychological Insight

This proverb astutely captures the modern linguistic concept of the 'language acquisition device', portraying a child's ability to absorb language not as a conscious effort but as an innate, almost automatic, environmental process.

Rhetorical Devices

Simile

The direct comparison of a child's learning to a pigeon pecking peas ('as pigeons peas') creates a vivid and memorable image that makes an abstract cognitive process feel simple and natural.

Alliteration

The repetition of the 'p' sound in 'pick up', 'pigeons', and 'peas' creates a rhythmic, catchy quality that enhances the proverb's memorability and oral tradition.

Juxtaposition

The proverb contrasts the mundane, almost animalistic act of 'picking up' words with the elevated, mysterious force of 'as God shall please', highlighting the mysterious gap between learning and intentional speech.