Why is it Called a Speaker

The Big Boy Tiny Girl Word Interpretation Discussions:
Children have less experience with words and their meanings than we do as adults.   We take for granted that, “hanging up the phone” means to end the conversation, but that meaning is so far out of date that even I only remember one phone in my life that was actually hung upwards to terminate calls.

My son and I were talking about what things were plugged into a power strip he saw under our tall dresser.   He can’t see the top of it so I told him the phone and the speaker were plugged into the strip.   He asked me, “what does ‘speaker’ mean?”  It is at this point where we commonly go to the circular definition in our heads by thinking, “well, speaker means speaker, of course.”  Followed by the thought of, “wait, why is it called a speaker, anyways?”  

I told my son it was because it spoke out sounds.   He was satisfied with that answer.   Then a short time later, my daughter and son were whizzing around on their scooters on the hardwood.   I told them to watch out in the kitchen because the dishes were drying and dad had cracked the dishwasher open.

My daughter came over to the dishwasher and said, “I want to see where it got cracked, mom”.   I realized she thought it had gotten damaged or cracked open like the egg shell she had peeled earlier in the day.   I told her it meant opened a little bit.   She was glad the dishwasher wasn’t broken.

Two more days until Halloween.  You’d better bet we’re counting down at this house.