[sorcerer-mar]

"I did [a noun]" is 'stupider', i.e. not grammatically correct English, i.e. a formulation that people will look down on you for using as you age. Sometimes you have to teach children things they'll eventually have to unlearn, but this is not one of those occasions.

[dragonwriter]

“I did [a noun]” is grammatically correct English object-verb-direct-object sentence structure.

Depending on the noun, it may not the most idiomatic way of expressing the sentiment it intends to communicate, but that is a different issue. (On the other hand, idiom is context dependent, and the objection here seems to be that it is idiomatic in at least one context, but that people prefer that children exclusively learn some other preferred idiom. But if you don't have this diversity, children don't get to learn and practice context switching as early, and that's an important skill, too.)

[sorcerer-mar]

Please provide examples

[losvedir]

Off the top of my head:

* I did a puzzle.

* I did a bad thing.

* I did a backflip.

Or, since this is just normal English, it's exactly the kind of thing that ChatGPT is good at, so here's a dozen more examples if you want: https://chatgpt.com/share/67e6d457-5ff4-8002-a5c7-15040f3d22... .

[sorcerer-mar]

Ah yes, "I did a [thing that a person performs or does]" is valid.

Is "an ouchie" a thing that someone performs or does?

[carom]

>“I did [a noun]” is grammatically correct English object-verb-direct-object sentence structure.

I'm going to need some examples here because I'm filling in nouns to that structure and it does not sound correct. "I did [a] water." Huh?

[stonemetal12]

"I did a runner" British idiom means I ran away without paying. The only problem with "I did a water" is I don't know what "a water" is without context. If person A said "I did a shot" and person B said "I did a water", it would make perfect sense.

[thfuran]

I can't offhand think of a case where that construction is appropriate for a noun that isn't a nominalized verb.

[RandallBrown]

I did a dance.

I did a presentation.

[sorcerer-mar]

So things that people do, of which "ouchies" is not

[RandallBrown]

Why can't you do an ouchie? It sounds weird, but I also know exactly what it means.

[sorcerer-mar]

Feel free to teach your child whatever you’d like, language is totally fungible.

The reason I’d suggest not to is because speaking in this way will, in fact, cause people to think less highly of you.

It’s not a matter of principle and “formal correctness” is pretty meaningless in human language, but “don’t speak in a way that a substantial number of people regard as incorrect” is a meaningful goal!

[quesera]

I did art. I did postgrad. I did work(n). I did dishes. I did Paris. I did the walls, but hired someone who did the roof.

Not idiomatic for all nouns, esp those for which there's a more applicable verb.

[thanatropism]

"1;