Kids are Baby Goats

My friend has lots of kids. They're all gorgeous!

I really dislike the word 'kid' in relation to a child. It just doesn't sound right - well, at least to me!

We have two daughters and they have always been 'the girls', so that was easy.

Their children, one of each variety, are our 'grand-sproglets'. I am not too sure how this came about but it has stuck and they are perfectly happy when I call them to heel by yelling 'sproglets!' and come happily trotting over, knowing there are no other children in the vicinity that they could be confused with. It works well!!

Good job we all have different names life would be boring otherwise?

It doesn't bother me in the least.

I did object to somebody calling my daughter , moons ago, a little bugger but sadly on the day I couldn't argue.

Such an ugly word! Whatever happened to all the children?

POGS

DB always called them 'the sprogs', his own and all the others in the family.

ps just realised it rhymes with POGS

probably came via the German 'Kinder' for child.

Words in common use get shortened.

.

I've been trying to find the origin of the expression 'just kidding'. The easiest explanation is 'behaving in a childish way' or 'treating someone like a child'. Alternatively, Captain Kidd, the pirate was sentenced to hang. The first two efforts failed but the third was successful. The first two were 'kidding'. May have to ask Susie Dent!

Don't know why, but I don't like or use 'kids' either.

DD's are 'the girls' DGD's are the girlies - no sons or grandsons !!

My mother objected to children being kids (baby goats) and also to grannies being nannies (female goats).

Language evolves! Otherwise we would all be communicating by grunting. I'm 62, and children were being called kids when
I was small. Not ideal, but I can think of worse things to be called.

Child or children NEVER kids. I'm a retired Infant teacher and have never taught baby goats!

Baby goats are rather cute, but then so are lambs, kittens, puppies and lion/tiger cubs. So I wonder how children became 'kids' rather than any of these other animal infants. Come to think of it, one of my grannies used to use 'lambkin', but only with reference to an individual child, not to all of us as a group.

To quote Lillie's post from yesterday:

Actually the word "'kid" is acceptable in language terminology. It comes from the German word "Kind" meaning child and was used in old English and became shortened to "kid." Nothing to do with goats!!

Pamish also mentioned that possibility.

Yes Ana what actually happens in language is that the consonants drop out of words with usage (especially spoken). So "Kind" dropped the n to become kid.

The i sound is like the i in ink, not as in find.

c. 1200, "the young of a goat," from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse kið "young goat," from Proto-Germanic *kidjom (cognates: Old High German kizzi, German kitze, Danish and Swedish kid). 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 1913 (The phrase was in use about that time in reference to vaudeville acts or advertisements featuring children, and to children-oriented features in newspapers).

I detest hearing children referred to as 'kids'. We need to re educate people. Make a comment if you see the word 'kids' mentioned on social media sites such as facebook. A small start but if people say nothing things will not change!

But what if I don't want people to be 're educated' Theoddbird? What if I have no objection to the term 'kid'?
Oh, just realised - it's me you want to re educate

Don't waste your time - I shall resist all attempts!

My mother really disliked the word 'kids'. She thought it indicated a lack of respect. Usually I argued with her about use of language but on this I didn't.

I agree with Redshinycar and Jings that it jars when used instead of 'children' or 'pupils' in an official context.

There's a series of hand books for teachers all of which, in the title, refer to pupils as 'the Buggers'. They were even advertised in the NUT journal. And teachers wonder why there is a lack of respect for the profession!

In 2010 Sue Cowley, described as 'an experienced teacher', brought out 'Getting the Buggers to Behave'. Since then she has had published another 17 books in the series.
Oh dear!

Don't like kids either. In my work with children and adolescents we always say young people or young person. I would say children for much younger children, I work with 11-24 year olds.

My own children were referred to as "the girls" and their godmother, my best friend always says that still when she's asking after them. My grandchildren are called "the little girls" they are only 6 at the moment, we'll have to see how that might change as they get older, I also have individual nicknames for them and they get called those.

I am Granny I don't like Nannie because of the paid childcare title

Our language is wide and expressive. I get very shirty (lovely word) when people want to limit it in any way because there are words they 'don't like'.