Re:Callum Home London


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Posted by andyb on May 04, 2007 at 09:06:19 from 81.131.34.166 user beardbiter.

In Reply to: Re:Callum Home London posted by Peter Roche on May 04, 2007 at 08:16:51:

On the whole I agree with the 'pro-kid' / language bis flexible camp but I think they may be missing the point of their own argument: If some people, Mike in this case but I've met others, hear or read "kid"as derogatory or dismissive, then in some contexts the word is derogatory or dismissive.
For what it is worth here is what the OED (on-line edition) has to say:
5. slang. a. A child, esp. a young child. (Originally low slang, but by the 19th c. frequent in familiar speech.)

[1599 MASSINGER, etc. Old Law III. ii, I am old, you say, Yes, parlous old, kids, an you mark me well!] 1690 D'URFEY Collin's Walk IV. 183 At her Back a Kid that cry'd, Still as she pinch'd it, fast was ty'd. 1719 Pills (1872) II. 193 Send your kid home to me, I will take care on 't. 1841 LD. SHAFTESBURY Jrnl. 16 Aug. in Life (1886) I. ix. 347 Passed a few days happily with my wife and kids. 1861 MORRIS in Mackail Life (1899) i. 161 Janey and kid are both very well. 1894 MRS. E. LYNN LINTON One too Many I. vi. 132 The mother cannot live, and the poor little kid must have gone to the workhouse.
Seems to this reader that the American explanation is prety much exploded while the slang/ not posh/ not respectable one is supported. All AR'sexamples quoted by Ed involve reported speech which implies that he used kid as an informal or slightly slangy term connoting variously the character or mood of the speaker, concern for the young and helpless and the superiority of older children in relation to younger kids.
Personally, I find nothing wrong with 'kids' but I'm aware that others do so I take that into account when using the word or choosing another. Mind you, in official social work talk we currently refer to 'young people' (not too bad but a mouthful) or 'young adults' ( a contradiction in terms and a frequently only too visible contradiction of the evidence).
I suppose I'd better do some work now.



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