Kids/Children - Wordsmith.org

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#19024 - 02/16/01 09:35 AM Kids/Children
des journeyman Registered: 02/02/01 Posts: 52 Loc: Indianapolis transplanted to S...	Is "kids" as acceptable as national TV commercials and general usage consider it??? I shudder. By the way, I am not familiar with many of the great words you discuss, so I will keep tuning in and counting on your posts to raise my IQ!!!!
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#19025 - 02/16/01 09:41 AM Re: Kids/Children
wwh Carpal Tunnel Registered: 01/18/01 Posts: 13858	Dear Des: Perhaps if small humans possessed more decorum, and did not dance, bounce, and jump quite so much, they would not have been compared to little goats. I'm not sure I would enjoy them more if the bounce were taken out of them.wwh
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#19026 - 02/16/01 09:56 AM Re: Kids/Children
Bobyoungbalt veteran Registered: 11/22/00 Posts: 1289	Goodness, Des, what inaccessable mountain retreat do you inhabit? I'm old, and "kids" has been a common term, at least in my family and milieu, as long as I can remember. It may not be elegant, but if you accept common usage as legitimization of a word, it's certainly legit, because it's common (in both senses of the word).
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#19027 - 02/16/01 09:58 AM Re: Kids/Children
Fiberbabe old hand Registered: 01/12/01 Posts: 771 Loc: Portland, Oregon	In reply to: Goodness, Des, what inaccessable mountain retreat do you inhabit? Obviously one accessible by goats.
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#19028 - 02/16/01 10:15 AM Re: Kids/Children
des journeyman Registered: 02/02/01 Posts: 52 Loc: Indianapolis transplanted to S...	Mercy, I got left behind somewhere along the line! I am not an old fuddy-duddy, really! Thanks for your remarks, I may try to adjust my view of "kids". I guess it will always be slang to me, yet I am a big slang user of other words! Just a hangup I have, by the way I have 2 daughters!
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#19029 - 02/16/01 11:16 AM Re: Kids/Children
Jackie Carpal Tunnel Registered: 03/15/00 Posts: 11578 Loc: Louisville, Kentucky	by the way I have 2 daughters! By any chance is one of them named Nanny? You're a neat person--stick around, and don't worry about the words: somebody'll be happy to explain, or tell you where you can look it up (YCLIU).
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#19030 - 02/16/01 12:17 PM Re: Kids/Children
Sparteye Pooh-Bah Registered: 01/05/01 Posts: 1773	Both Webster's and American Heritage designate "kid" as informal, not slang, for child, and Webster's even lists that use as its first definition, rather than young goat. I can't remember a time when "kids" didn't refer to children, although I do not use the term in formal writing. I think, des, in your lifetime "kid" has passed from slang to informal, and perhaps in the next century will be acceptable in all contexts.
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#19031 - 02/16/01 12:51 PM Re: Kids gloves
of troy Carpal Tunnel Registered: 10/17/00 Posts: 5400 Loc: rego park	If children is the first defination of "kid" it gives a new meaning to kid-gloves-- are kid gloves now something akin to boxing gloves -- used to handle unrully kids? or something like latex-- to insulate your self from contamination when dealing with kids? The thing i used to had most was emptying my kids pockets-- i think that they sometimes could of qualified for super fund money used to clean up hazzardous waste sites! especially my son. but my daughter once filled her pockets with fruits from the ginko tree-- these are less than aromatic when fresh, when dried and mashed into pockets they are truly vile. _________________________ my other obsession
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#19032 - 02/16/01 04:25 PM Re: Kids
jmh Pooh-Bah Registered: 03/22/00 Posts: 1981	I'm with Des here. My father was a headteacher and loathes the creeping invasion of the word "kid". When I hear the word, I can almost see him wince. In his eyes, it was part of a lack of respect for children as people and their education. I rarely use the word. [mutter, mutter, heading off to mountain retreat emoticon]
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#19033 - 02/17/01 01:30 AM Re: Kids
Father Steve Carpal Tunnel Registered: 09/06/00 Posts: 2788 Loc: Seattle, Washington, USA	In my grammar schooling, my teachers were adamant about the impermissibility of the use of the word "kid" in written English to mean anything other than a young goat. We were free to use it orally in the schoolyard but one risked severe punishment if used in an essay or story. This describes the 1950's.
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