We reached out to Dedrick on Instagram to hear if he was impressed with his niece when he heard “water zoo” for the first time. “Of course I was impressed with her! She’s a genius,” he told Bored Panda. “This is the same girl who calls mashed potatoes ‘fluffy potatoes’.” He noted that she also refers to jetskis as “boatorcycles” (that is my personal favorite) and the part of her leg behind her knee as a “leg pit”. 

When asked if he thinks kids are smarter than they often get credit for, Dedrick said, “I think kids are geniuses. I think [adults] just overcomplicate words. I’m not a big fan of big words. I mean, I use them here and there, but they never really get the point across. But if someone’s like ‘fluffy potatoes’ I know exactly what they’re talking about.”

In reference to his niece, Dedrick added, “She also one day called a turtle a ‘house lizard’ because they can go home, and that honestly changed my life too. I even made a video about that, like I made it seem like I made it up, but it was really her… Actually all of my comedy content comes from her, I’m just a poser,” he said jokingly. So there you have it folks, the mastermind behind Dedrik’s successful TikTok account is actually just his niece. But seriously, it’s great that Dedrick encourages his niece to exercise her creativity and that she feels comfortable creating her own names for things. Maybe her words will end up in the dictionary eventually!   

Children are so creative. When they don’t know the name of something, they have no problem coming up with their own based on what they do know. They do not have any mental barriers that adults form over time, so there is no hesitation in combining words that might sound silly to an adult but make perfect sense to them. Embarrassment is not a factor; conveying a message is what is important. But how are children so creative, and why do we all lose that imaginative spark eventually? 

According to Paul King, a computational neuroscientist, “As people become ‘good at life’, they develop habits of thought that serve them well. These habits are thought styles that ‘work’ (get results, impress people, carry us through difficult situations). As we accumulate ‘thought techniques’, three things happen: First, we become more effective and able to ‘effortlessly’ (mindlessly?) navigate tricky waters.” Doing certain tasks and solving problems becomes muscle memory and second nature. We actively use our brains less often. 

“Second, we adapt to social norms and accepted ways of thinking, making us more effective with people and society,” Paul explains. We become aware of what others are thinking and try not to step on anyone else’s toes or embarrass ourselves. We accept what we have been told, and we start thinking outside the box less and less. We know what an aquarium is called, so why think of calling it anything else? Why activate our brains when we don’t have to?

“Third, we become a prisoner of our own success,” Paul says. “Sticking with what works makes us both more successful and less creative. Why be random when you can be right? Unfortunately what works is what worked in the past and misses the enigmatic paths that lead to unexpected surprises.” Kids don’t yet know what is ‘right’ and what works, so they are constantly experimenting shamelessly. I wish I still had unfiltered access to that childlike bravery too.

Paul King does note that people who work in creative fields or those who exercise their creativity muscles are capable of keeping their imaginations fresh. “They develop predictable habits that take them into unpredictable territory. This is a lifestyle choice to stay in the uncomfortable territory of the unknown.” 

“They may seek out people outside their profession, read random things, or force themselves to brainstorm whimsically,” Paul explains. “This systemization of creativity doesn’t have the bizarre arc of childhood imagination, but does combine life experience with creativity in a way that can be more impactful (and higher paying) in modern society.” So we’re not all doomed to calling items by boring names and having no creativity left in our minds, but an artist or filmmaker is more likely to have childlike wonder than someone who spends 8 hours a day crunching numbers on a computer.

As much as I wish I could come up with genius alternative names for every item I use throughout the day, if we all had access to the minds of children and their unbridled imaginations, kids would not be as special. According to Family Education, creativity belongs to children. That’s not to say that it is not to be enjoyed by everyone, but kids are certainly the experts in the field. “When coming from a pure place, children create only for the sake of play and for the thrill of inventing, never for a projected result,” Family Education explains. Kids are not playing and creating characters to impress anyone or receive payment. Their brains just do it for fun. 

Family Education explains the place where pure creativity stems from as “Point Zero”, where “the doing is all that matters”. “Born from Point Zero, the creative force offers a marvelous tool for children to fulfill their need to express themselves, to grow and to explore their world.” Eventually, however, the connection to Point Zero can be broken by social pressures, rules and guidelines, classes and criticisms and insecurities. This is how many of us lose our passion for creativity that was once alive in all of us as kids. As sad as it is that we eventually lose this, we can work to make sure that children we care about hold onto it as long as they can.

When kids start to lose access to Point Zero, creativity goes from flowing freely to having a goal of achievement or success. But keeping the connection to their imagination strong can even have practical benefits, Family Education explains. When kids are taught to trust their intuition, where creativity stems from, they can become more self-reliant, have higher self-esteem and self-confidence and have an easier time making decisions. Creativity is not just about having fun and saying silly things, although there is certainly value in those, it also helps kids develop into confident individuals who understand what they think and feel.

As adults, it’s important that we don’t stifle a child’s creativity. If they call penguins “cold owls” or geese “honkeys”, we should never make them feel bad or embarrassed about that. In fact, I’m jealous of how open-minded those kids are. I wish that my brain would let me say things like that out loud without feeling like I would be judged. “It is a great gift to children to show them how to use and respect their spontaneous intuition and to have them discover the magical surprises of creativity: a creativity that comes from a pure intimate source, from Point Zero deep in themselves,” Family Education writes.

We tend to assume that children only learn from adults because they are younger and have much less life experience, but we often forget what it was like to be in their shoes. There are plenty of lessons kids can teach adults, from how to harness our creativity to how to hop over two jump ropes at once. In fact, according to an Adobe “Hiring for the Future” report, 78% of workers surveyed admitted that they wished they were more creative. I bet 20 or 30 years prior those same people had no problems in the realm of creative thinking, but now they need a young person to teach them a lesson or two.   

Adults can even benefit from an active imagination in the workplace. One 2018 study found that in group problem solving sessions, teams that had some form of “formal creativity training” were able to come up with 350% more ideas than teams without the same backgrounds. Their ideas were even 415% more original than the other teams. Being more creative can make you more fun and a better asset at work. It’s a win win!

We hope you are enjoying opening your mind to all of these alternative solutions to names of everyday objects and occurrences. Keep upvoting the responses you find most brilliant, and then let us know in the comments if you have ever heard a kid come up with a hilariously accurate name for something. Whether you plan to incorporate these names in your own life or not, you must admit they are refreshing to hear. And if you’re interested in learning even more genius alternative names, don’t forget to read this article next.