The Death of My Grandmother

When I was four, my maternal grandmother died, and my parents told me she wasn't there because she was travelling. My four-year-old brain knew better. My grandmother couldn't even get up to go to the bathroom by herself; she needed help every time she wanted to get up. How could she be travelling? I knew she was dead, but I didn't know my parents were lying to me; I thought they just didn't know, so I let them think that my grandmother was travelling. I felt sad that she was dead, and I couldn't talk about it with anyone. I was a little disappointed with my parents, too. How could they be so stupid? Didn't they know Grandma couldn't go anywhere alone?

So what prompted this memory from 47 years ago? 
https://www.independentliving.co.uk/philip-anderson/being-mortal/

In his thought-provoking article, Philip Anderson writes about euphemisms and introduces ways to talk to children about death: "It is far better to talk openly about death with children, and there are several books which can be helpful."

Why Make Things Worse?

The English language has many irregularities that make it difficult to learn for people speaking other languages. These irregularities have to do with the changes of words over time and often date back to a long time ago. 

A few days ago, I came across the phrase box spring and thought How are English learners supposed to know what that means? Thankfully, box springs are not really used anymore... 

Today, I came across another phrase and my thoughts, once again, went to my students and learners of English in general. The phrase ice chest, referring to a chest full of ice to keep foods and drinks cold, makes sense. The word cooler also makes sense because it keeps things cool. However, now I see the words are combined in an inexplicable manner, both online and on store signs, and the phrase chest cooler is in use. Why would people call it a chest cooler when they can call it simply a cooler? It doesn't cool the chest! Why create incorrect phrases, make them commonly used, and confuse English learners?