human bean

9.5

A playful name adults use for children

noun
/ˈhjuːmən biːn/

Baby Talk

: ser humano

My grandmother always calls me her little human bean when she tells stories.

Examples

Look at that little human bean playing in the yard!
My nephew is such a silly human bean sometimes.
In the play, a giant describes the main character as a clever human bean.
Teachers often say that every human bean is unique in their own way.
My grandmother always calls me her little human bean when she tells stories.
Look at that little human bean playing in the yard!
My nephew is such a silly human bean sometimes.

Synonyms

kiddie

vshuman bean

Informal

87 7.7

A young child

is a playful pun more joking than ordinary informal child talk

kidlet

vshuman bean

Informal

1 8.2

A small child or young goat that people talk about in a loving, informal way

is a playful pun used for any person often for children

fleshling

vshuman bean

Slang

9.9

A person called jokingly to show they are not a robot

is a playful pun used for people focusing on childlike playfulness not machine contrast

Surface Forms

human bean singular

human beans plural

Morphology

human + bean

The headword 'human' directly signals the meaning 'person', but 'bean' does not semantically contribute and the phrase relies on a phonetic pun on 'human being' rather than regular compositional syntax. A B1 learner who knows the words may suspect it is playful, but the pun and non-literal use of 'bean' make the exact meaning unpredictable without prior exposure.

Etymology

The phrase human bean may come from a playful mispronunciation of human being or from calling someone small and cute like a bean. That's why it means 'a person' used in a loving or funny way.