"Ay, Yoyo, you are going to be the one to bring our name to the headlights in this country! That is a beautiful, beautiful speech I want for your father to hear it before he goes to sleep. Then I will type it for you, all right?"

–“Daughter of Invention,”
Julia Alvarez

In this passage, the mother tries to use an English idiom about having one’s name in lights, which means to be famous. Instead, she says that Yoyo will bring their name “to the headlights in this country.”

What does the mother’s language reveal?


What does the mother mean to express about her daughter Yoyo?



Answer :

The mother's language revealed that her mother tongue which is her first language is interfering with her choice of words.

The mother meant to express that it is her daughter that will make the family's name popular.

What is an idiom?

An idiom is said to represent an expression that has different literal meaning to the group of words used.

For example, the following expressions are idioms which are used to add texture to grammar :

"I found myself being in a hot soup after falling from the stairs". This doesn't mean that I am in a hot soup. it means that I found myself in great pain after a fall I had at the stairs.

From the passage, Yoyo's mum must have lacked the ability to make proper choice of words in English language maybe due to her level of education. That was why she said 'headlight' instead of 'in lights'.

It could also be an interference from her mother tongue which is there native or original language.

Learn more about idioms here:

https://brainly.com/question/17515105

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