Hi all! I recently got into a [s]argument[/s] discussion with my wife over at what point a ‘baby’ becomes a ‘kid’. It came about because our one-year-old is running around the house and communicating so well that I have a hard time still calling her a baby. I looked up the definitions, but they weren’t much help.
In my mind, once they start walking, I don’t think of them as babies anymore. My wife thinks that as long as they’re in diapers, they’re babies. Anyone agree? Any other arbitrary lines drawn in the sand?
I once worked with someone who got riled when children were referred to as "kids". Her pastor had Cotton Mathered them with a (imo) raving sermon that devil-worshippers refer to children of the Saved as "kids" because they want to offer them up in their unholy sacrifices. The proper term of endearment for children of the "sheep" on the Lord’s Right Hand would, of course, be "lambs" and he strenuously endorsed it. There are people like this still out there… breeding…
I say children are "kids" when they get old enough to be lovably ba-a-a-a-ad. :D
[quote author=stephane link=board=omni;num=1089058473;start=0#3 date=07/06/04 at 12:56:09]... your flesh and blood must be able to cause a modicum of disorder before being entitled to the kidsake.
I don’t know - my [baby/kid/toddler/youngster/offspring/lamb] increased the disorder in my house pretty much since day 1. And she’s been getting better at it since!
It’s interesting that some object to "kid" - I see from the definition that "a young person" is only an informal definition. This surprises me - its use for people (at least around here) is so common that I would have guessed that it would be a formal definition.
And I’m not sure if "kidsake" is the right word, Stephane - how about "kid-dome" or "kidship"? "Kid-edness"?
[quote author=gailr link=board=omni;num=1089058473;start=0#4 date=07/06/04 at 13:10:08]I say children are "kids" when they get old enough to be lovably ba-a-a-a-ad. :D
I think any baby who can baa qualifies as kid/lamb.
I don’t think the transition from "baby" to "kid" is clear cut. Probably we all were "kids" by the time we were five years old, although I myself have seen "babes" as old as 55 or 56 (I see a lot more of them these days than I did 20 or 30 years ago. In fact, I don’t remember ever seeing a "babe" in the 50s age group until about five years ago).
After you become a "kid", you remain a kid until your parents, aunts, uncles, etc. have all gone on to their reward. Then you’re no longer a kid.
I think that it is when the child in question takes umbrage at being called a baby. This will be as capricious as the child itself. There is no line in the sand. Sometimes the child will still want to be babied, and othertimes will demand more respect. You find out in JIT (just in time).
[quote author=wquinette link=board=omni;num=1089058473;start=0#7 date=07/06/04 at 16:13:57]I’ve always thought kid came from Dutch kind (child).
It’s not what http://www.etymonline.com says, but still it could not convince me.
Wilson Quinette
Sumaré, SP - Brazil
Wow, Wilson…! That’s what I always thought, too! Very odd indeed!
My Dad refused to use the word "kid" for humans because it was too American. He does nowadays, but this is 30 odd years ago I’m talking about. I think it is pretty well standard informal English now.
I think babies become kids around the age of one. When they can toddle they are no longer babies. Toddlers are a subset of children. If you had to wait till they were out of nappies then our oldest would have still been a baby at 3½.
I have wondered if there was a kid/kind link too. I don’t know if the Dutch or German influence in the US was enough to give the word kid as well as kindergarden, but it’s a thought.
I’ll have to look up the ‘kid/kind’ connexion. My dictionary says that ‘kid’ comes from Old Norse, in the sense of a young goat, of course.
In Scouser, and a few other dialects, ‘kid’ is an endearing form of address . My brother’s going to be ten years old this month, so he’s ‘our kid’ (with ‘our’ it means ‘younger brother’).
In Scotland and the North East of England the word ‘bairn’ is the usual equivalent. It can also be used as an endearing form of address. I’m good friends with a retired woman from the North East who regularly says, in a mothering way, to me "yer still me bairn, ye know".
Yes, but is a capricious kid from Capri displaying a humanish behavior or a goatish disposition?
This begs the question: when does a kid become an old goat? (Perhaps when he stops insisting that he is not a baby and instead begins leering at babes!)
