The taxonomy of whining

From fake crying to the jealousy grumble

A whining child.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Bicho_raro/iStock, EvgVect/iStock, Library of Congress)

One morning in late 2012, I woke up in a breathy panic. How on Earth was I supposed to communicate with the baby I was due to have in a few months? Would I somehow know which cries meant "hungry" or "sleepy," and which meant, "Hey. So, I'm lying in puddle of my own waste. When you have a second, be a dear and fix that"?

So, I read a lot of articles and watched YouTube videos on what an infant's different cries actually signify. As is almost always the case with self-educating internet sessions, the information turned out to be virtually useless. But it calmed me down until I actually met my child and quickly learned her squawky wordless language.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Ruth Margolis
Ruth ​Margolis is a British ​journalist living in the U.S. Her work has appeared in ​The Guardian, ​The ​Daily Telegraph and BBCAmerica.com.