When I was in college, I took up foil fencing. I suspect that this may be where I picked up the habit of occasionally announcing "Touche!" whenever someone gets me with a good play in cards or some other friendly competition. (I might also have picked this habit up as a result of a line from a Smothers Brothers routine, in which Tommy says, "Touchy, touchy", to which his brother response, "Touche, Touche.")

Alexander (all of five and a half years old) and I have been playing Crazy Eights in the evenings, and he asked me what it means when I say, "Touche!" after he plays something that I can't match. I explained the concepts of announcing a good hit or acknowledging a good rejoinder.

So, imagine my surprise when we were playing cards earlier this evening, and Alex played a queen and said, "Queen Shay!" And then, when he played a six, and said, "Six Shay!"

Dude cracks me up.