AIBU TO DISLIKE PEOPLE WHO CALL CHILDREN 'KIDS'

[SuzieCath]

Just that really. I just find it unpleasant and my DD7 corrects people she has heard on TV call children kids as she knows that 'kids' are baby goats.

To dislike the term is not the same as disliking the people. Clearly a semantic error. I do not use the term but I understand it’s meaning. I dislike the term mum; my children don’t use it but that doesn’t mean I am an any less fond of people who do use it.

Your child sounds like she needs to learn some social norms and I would stop encouraging her to be so presumptuous.

Where have you gone OP? I need to know what to call kids so I can stop being so unpleasant

I second Cherrypavlova ^^

FeralBeryl I can only speak about my cousin and a few American TV characters but they call one child a kid and a baby the baby instead of using their actual names. It really grates.

I would say "I'm collecting Emma from school" not "I'm collecting the/a kid from school" like my cousin. It's like they don't have an identity of their own. They are just the kid/baby.

my DD7 corrects people she has heard on TV call children kids as she knows that 'kids' are baby goats.

I had a school friend who did that when I was that age. Even then I though she sounded like a stuck up twat.

It sounds awfully common

Best to stay away from those types of people op

I use it all the time, sorry!

Im.not really kerm on the term kiddo , i am in various facebook groups as ds2 is disabled and its a term i hear a lot. , i think its more used by members that are American but g
Hey ho its just a word!

Words have multiple meanings. A kid can be a baby goat or a human. A pup can be a baby dog or a plant. Fair can mean sideshow rides or something that’s reasonable. They’re called HOMONYMS and HOMOGRAPHS and you need to teach your child that these things feature in the English language.

I agree with previous posters - you really need to STOP SHOUTING because that is far more annoying than using the word kid - maybe also teach your kid some manners as that will get her far further in life than 'correcting' people, especially when what she is saying is wrong. Perhaps point her in the direction of a dictionary.

Also, as your daughter is such a keen lexicographer you can explain that using "kid" to mean "child" was first recorded as slang in the 1590s, and was established in informal usage by 1840s. So next time she 'corrects' someone then tell her the last time that she would have been right about the word 'kid' only having a single use as a noun was circa 1589.

In fact lots of words have multiple uses and different meanings - as a child she may not have covered this in school yet, but I imagine you did OP?

Totally ridicule. Are you aiming for the mumsnet populist vote? Next thread will be "I can't stand people using the word hubby'. No-one cares, particularly when being asked for advice on serious matters. To start a thread about it is OTT.

You can dislike whatever you like but yours is an old fashioned view I’m afraid and language evolves so it’s not incorrect usage anymore.

I call my kids "kids" also children, various terms of endearment and if they're not in ear shot "utter bastards"

I also like "bairns"

Oh god, my mother used to trot out the baby goats line, because she thought it made her sound ever so clever.

It made her sound like a dick.

Would you like me more if I called them little shits?

Kids is perfectly friendly and inoffensive and in common usage. I wouldn’t take kindle to being “corrected” by a precocious 7yr old.

I don’t know why some people can’t understand that language is adaptable and fluid, it’s never static. Yes, kids are baby goats, and in 2018 kids are also baby humans. Get over it.

@feralberyl - yes, kid singular is also used frequently in Australia.

I don't like it either op but your pist could have been better phrased.

Worse is hcp's saying "you mum"? So tempting to say I'm x's mum and have the full power of speech. Or, not yours.

DD7 corrects people

She’s not ‘correcting’ them though, is she? Because ‘kids’ is a perfectly acceptable word to describe children and has been in use for decades. So what she’s actually doing is telling people they should stick to her personal preferences. At least it’s only people on TV and not in real life, or she’d be considered an obnoxious brat.

Personally, I don't like 'kids' either, and never use it. But I'd never judge others for dong so, or even worse, correct them!

When talking generally, I refer to 'children', when addressing my own, I'd say 'girls'. If addressing mine in a larger mixed group, I'd probably say something like 'you lot' (especially as they are all now adults). I don't like 'guys' either.

Doesn't she take offence when you call her a child though, OP? The original meaning of that is a foetus or (if you really want to stretch it) a newborn infant. Isn't that a bit offensive for a 7yo? Or alternatively, you might just teach her a bit about how languages work.

It's a very strange reason to dislike people really. I say kid, and I don't mind if you don't like me. Seems futile to attach any emotion to it though. I agree with others who have said it is not incorrect use of the word

Don’t ever go to Manchester op.
Our kid would drive you mad.

Yanbu. Kids are indeed baby goats. Children are children. Yabu to write the imbecilic 'just that really' however.

But on the plus side, she can start referring to the boys in her class as girls, because "girl" originally just means a young person of either sex.

Be a bit wary of "boy" though; it does originally tend to refer to male relatives but in English (we're talking proper, older English here) has a strong connotation of "servant, rascal, ruffian". Make sure she shouts at the telly if anyone nicely behaved, of the upper crust is referred to in this offensive fashion. Can't be too careful with language.

@VisitorsEntrance

Much better than little shits, I'm sure... yabu