Kids, as the saying goes, say the darndest things. It’s easy to forget as an adult that young children are like social sponges — they soak up everything they see and hear around them and often imitate those same behaviors. Even when — or especially when — you don’t want them to. One TikToker‘s precocious young daughter definitely seems to have soaked up a lot of her parents’ ways as, if it wasn’t for the short stature and squeaky voice, we’d swear she was 30 years old not three.
As shared by TikTok user @mariesaylor.21, Marie’s adorable daughter immediately makes a big impression in this hilarious home video when she takes a large swig of coke and proceeds to furiously wipe her mouth and let out a guttural “Uhh!” If she told her mom “I’ll have another. This time leave the bottle” and started complaining about her boss we wouldn’t even bat an eyelid.
“Why you got such an attitude?” Marie asks the toddler, to which our harried heroine snaps back, “I not an attitude!” — in the exact same cadence as a surly drunk might say “I’ve had enough when I say I’ve had enough!” If there was a stuffed animal on the tabletop next to her, she probably would’ve said “What are you looking at?” and taken a drunken swing at it.
Marie’s daughter then climbs off her chair in a huff. “What’s the matter?” her mom inquires, to which she snaps, “Leave me alone!” Marie then asks her why she wants to be left alone. Her suddenly thoughtful daughter then begins “Because I am…” After a lengthy pause, she finally settles on the most accurate word. “Pissed,” she says, causing her mom to burst out in hysterics.
This unexpectedly grown-up response from Marie’s daughter has turned her into something of a minor TikTok icon, with many impressed by her mature mastery of English. “That’s a big word for Elmo,” one comment joked, while another had to give it to her: “Well… you asked.” Others couldn’t get over how long she had to think before she came up with the right word. “She was flipping through the dictionary looking for the perfect word!” said one, as another wrote, “She’s been storing that word away for the perfect moment!” Others found her surprisingly relatable: “I fear she is me.”
Another parent of a miniature sass machine fears they are watching their future. “My daughter is 1 now and I’m so afraid this will be her, because she’s already rolling her eyes,” they commented. Well, this mom and any others out there worrying about their kid’s colorful vocab should know that it’s actually entirely normal for toddlers to have picked up swear words by their age. As Drs. Timothy Jay and Kristin Janschewitz found via a study into the science of swearing, cursing tends to emerge in children by age two. By the time they enter school, children often have a “a working vocabulary of 30-40 offensive words.” Whether they’re also supposed to have the grizzled demeanor of a lapsed alcoholic, like Marie’s kid, is unknown, however.