It’s been about a month since I recorded some Claire-isms, so I thought I’d write some of these down before they are corrected right out of existence. You can read about the others, here.
Today’s installment is about phrases, and here are two of my current favorites:
“Yes, I’m is!”
This one cracks me up! Both Claire and Former President Clinton will tell you that “is” can mean different things, and sometimes it’s important to emphasize or clarify which meaning you’re using. What she’s saying isn’t grammatically correct, but I really understand why she says it! Is is a state of being. She’s telling you that she is (doing whatever or being whatever). It really makes sense. The best part about Claire saying this phrase is hearing how emphatic she is when she says the word is. That’s why it sounds perfectly acceptable when she says it.
Speaking of which, the funny thing is that I’m having trouble not using this phrase myself. I hear it all day, correct it, and then have the urge to say it, too. 
“I didn’t mean to do it on purpose.”
To which my answer is usually, “Uh huh…riiiiight.” On first blush, and in context, this sentence makes perfect sense. She didn’t mean to do whatever it was. And, she didn’t do it on purpose. She combines the two sentiments into one sentence. She’s very efficient. 
But, the result is something pretty funny if you think about it…especially when you realize that toddlers really do mean to do things on purpose a lot of times; they just don’t realize they’re going to get caught.
Oh, and for future reference, it helps if you bat your eyelashes when you say it.
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