As we grow up and venture off into our lives we develop a somewhat unique lexicon; a collection of words and phrases all our own. Some are cultural, some are regional, some merely remembered but seldom used.

My father often said, when a teaching moment arrived between us (and, as a somewhat wayward child, they did; frequently), “I’m going to learn you.”

I thought my less educated father’s grammar was wrong but I understood the context. “I’m going to teach you something.” A teaching moment. That meant I had to listen.

Only years later did I understand that my father’s grammar was correct, if not a relic from generations past. What does learn you mean?

A sentence fragment that is often believed to be grammatically incorrect, but is actually completely correct. The word learn is actually rooted in the Old English verb læran, meaning “to teach”, and can be used transitively in this manner, e.g. “I’m going to learn you a lesson.”

I learned something from my father regarding learning.

Learning requires listening.

After he retired, my wife and I would take a vacation back to Missouri to visit family every year or two for nearly 20 years. We never overstayed our welcome but stayed long enough for me to learn about my father and mother’s lives; their struggles and disappointments, their joys and accomplishments.

As a child my parents devoted time to learning me. I had to become an adult before I learned about them and before my parents could really learn about me and how I lived my life in their shadow. It was my way of learning my father.