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Calling children 'kids'
Calling children 'kids'
I have a visceral reaction to people calling children 'kids'.
Am I old fashioned?
Am I old fashioned?
- sundaymorningstaple
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I don't know. I'm older than you are and I still tend to do it, but correct myself if I can remember too.
But, but, but I used to staken 'em out on the lawn with they were little getting them used to eating green growing things. Now they eat their veggies without any problems. Pavlov's Response? Works every time and it was cheaper than hiring a gardener.
Thought to be from German (hence my usage of it)....
But, but, but I used to staken 'em out on the lawn with they were little getting them used to eating green growing things. Now they eat their veggies without any problems. Pavlov's Response? Works every time and it was cheaper than hiring a gardener.

Thought to be from German (hence my usage of it)....
Kid: child (colloq.)
Select targeted languages
Arabic: طفل (ar) (Tifl) m
Armenian: բալիկ (hy) (balik), Armenian: երեխա (hy) (erexa)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 孩子 (cmn) (háizi), 小孩 (cmn) (xiǎohái)
Danish: barn (da)
Finnish: kersa (fi), skidi (fi), pirpana (fi), ipana (fi), nassikka (fi), penska (fi)
French: gamin (fr), gosse (fr), bambin (fr) m, gamin (fr) m
German: Kind (de) n
Hebrew: ילד (he)
Hungarian: kölyök (hu), gyerek (hu)
Icelandic: barn (is) n, krakki (is) m
Japanese: 子供 (ja) (kodomo), 子 (ja) (ko)
Macedonian: клинец (mk) (klÃnec) m, клинка (mk) (klÃnka) f
Maltese: tfajjel m
Navajo: chąąmąʼii
Norwegian: barn (no) n, unge (no) m
Polish: dzieciak (pl) n
Russian: ребёнок (rebjónok) m; малыш (malýš) m
Spanish: niño m, buqui m (Northwestern Mexico), chamaco m (Mexican standard usage), chamo m (Venezuela), chango m (Bolivia, Northwestern Argentina), chino m (Colombia), cipote m (El Salvador, Honduras), crÃo f (Spain), güila f (Costa Rica), huerco m (Northeastern Mexico), nene m (Argentina, Puerto Rico), patojo m (Guatemala)
Turkish: Çoçuk (tr)
Volapük: cil (vo), (hypocoristic) cilül (vo)
Etymology (Kind)
From Middle High German kint from Old High German kind from Proto-Germanic from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to give birth”
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers
- nakatago
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Kid meaning child or goat is off-putting
but murder as in "a murder of crows" sounds kinda cool?
So, the goat meaning came in first? But as slang, it's been around since the 17th century?
but murder as in "a murder of crows" sounds kinda cool?
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=kidkid (n.)
c.1200, "the young of a goat," from O.N. kið "young goat," from P.Gmc. *kiðjom (cf. Ger. kitz). Extended meaning of "child" first recorded as slang 1590s, established in informal usage by 1840s. Applied to skillful young thieves and pugilists since at least 1812. Kid stuff "something easy" is from 1923. Kid glove "a glove made of kidskin leather" is from 1680s; sense of "characterized by wearing kid gloves," therefore "dainty, delicate" is from 1856.
So, the goat meaning came in first? But as slang, it's been around since the 17th century?
"A quokka is what would happen if there was an anime about kangaroos."
I don't think my issue is with it being (is it?) or sounding American. I think it is more that it lacks respect. MaybeQRM wrote:Kids sounds more informal, "Bring your child to the waterpark" just sounds to formal and a bit institutional?
I think it sounds bit grinding to the British because it has an American twang to it, I try and use the word Sprog.

X9. There is no faux pas. When 99% of people do something it is surely the 'right way'.
SMS. Interesting. Could it be another return-import via the German East-coast diaspora...
OMG! CROTCHFRUIT! Sounds more like a deviant paedophile term, quite shocking!poodlek wrote:This is the first I've ever heard about the term being anything other than slightly informal. Maybe I'm used to it as it's used more frequently in N. America?
Aside: a friend on my fb labeled a photo album of her daughter "Crotchfruit". I found that rather grating.


Though i maybe just old fashioned but i have never found the F word appropriate either in my life other than when i have blown my top, or cracked a few jokes in male company. I mean pussy, talent, skirt, is often used, Crotchfruit photo album I would have thought to be a male singles club or a code word for the worst depraved animal club

Last edited by ksl on Sat, 10 Sep 2011 7:22 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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I have been calling my girlfriend's children 'kids' for the last two years and even gone as far as 'kiddos' and to be honest they don't seem to have taken offense :pI think it is more that it lacks respect.
Crotchfruit on the other hand would likely (and understandably) get me slung out of the house sharpish

- Mary Hatch Bailey
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Like everything else it depends on the context. If I were to say: "I took my kids to the amusement park" I don't think anyone would think anything of it. It is a slightly slangy, informal, as poodlek suggested, way to refer to children. In the US, at least when used in that way it is perfectly acceptable.
If I were to approach another parent at a playground and say 'your kid pushed my daughter' well that's another story. I believe the difference might be in the level of the familiarity you have with a particular child. Like all slang, its tends to dumb down the message.
If I were to approach another parent at a playground and say 'your kid pushed my daughter' well that's another story. I believe the difference might be in the level of the familiarity you have with a particular child. Like all slang, its tends to dumb down the message.
Hmmm, I'm with the "no kid" group...I'm trying my best to stop my children from "North Americanising" their language (no offence to our US or Canadian readers, but North Americanisms are pervading the English language). But then "kid" doesn't grate on me anywhere near as much as "diaper" or "ketchup" and a range of other words and spellings. I say "North Americanisms" because I know a couple of Brazilians who argue that they are as American as anyone from the US - after all, they are from "South America" and US nationals are from "North America". Hmmm, guess this may cause a stir..... 

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