mimic Archives - Diana Derringer

Copycat

July 6, 2026 Diana Derringer Comments 8 comments

Children and youth are great copycats. They see something they like and mimic it.

Copycat can be a noun, verb, or adjective.

A copycat is someone who imitates another person (noun).

They see how someone looks or acts and want to be just like them. I saw the perfect example when I served as a juvenile counselor. A young runaway returned from a northern city to his rural southern home. He walked into my office with

A new swagger
Hat cocked to the side of his head
The most exaggerated accent I had ever heard

To copycat is the act of imitating (verb).

The young juvenile was funny but did no harm when he changed his dress and speech. He did hurt others when he followed in the footsteps of relatives who broke the law.

Copycat also describes something or someone (adjective).

That young man displayed obvious copycat behavior. It was not his own but belonged to someone he admired.

We need to choose our role models carefully.

Imitating the right people typically keeps us on the straight and narrow. Following negative examples keeps us in hot water.

We are made in the image of God. May our lives reflect our Maker.

“Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good” (1 John 1:11 NIV)

Thanks to Cindy Shoemaker for the suggestion. Image by Gundula Vogel from Pixabay.

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Little Pitchers Have Big Ears

January 30, 2017 Diana Derringer Comments 5 comments

Little Pitchers Have Big Ears--a small pitcher The curved handle on some pitchers looks like a person’s ear. When we say little pitchers have big ears, we warn adults to be careful what they say. Children don’t need to hear it.

We may also protect children by:

Spelling words we don’t want them to hear (This works until they can spell.)
Moving where they cannot hear us

Children like to listen to adults.

When adults speak, children often become all ears. Yet, they should not hear:

Information they are too young to understand
Talk that might upset or confuse them
Words no one should ever say
Gossip

Many times children repeat what they hear.

We always want to protect children.
We don’t always want them repeating what we say.

If we choose our words wisely, we don’t have to worry who hears them.

Helpful guidelines include:

Think before we speak.
Say nothing unkind or untrue.
Don’t say it if we don’t want it repeated.

As adults, we need to remember little pitchers have big ears. Like children, we also need to mind our Ps and Qs.

“Jesus called the crowd to him and said, ‘Listen and understand. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them’” (Matthew 15:10-11 NIV).

Do you have an expression you want explained or a thought about this one? If so, please comment below.