by: JBH Wonders

The Suggested Links are websites that I frequently visit. These are informative and entertaining perhaps. I offer no endorsement of them here and I am not being compensated for posting their links.

Note: The Links to Drawings and Documents for Wood Projects and the Hand Pump Project are Now Working Again.

***Edit from JBH Wonders daughter: This blog belonged to my father. He unfortunately lost his battle with cancer in March 2018. I'm sure he would still welcome comments on any of his postings, but please respect his wishes to keep them short and CLEAN, and please be RESPECTFUL of him. He was a brilliant man of few words with lots of good information to offer, which is why he created this blog. Thank you to all his faithful readers. -Jessica

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

There are Children and There are Kids


By: JBH Wonders, 11/2009


When I was a young child, one set of my grandparents referred to my siblings and me as children. The other grandparents called us kids. Why? I did not take note of this until my later years of adulthood. When you are a child, some things are not important to you.

Before I continued with this article it seemed best to do some research on the use of the word “kids” when speaking of children. I did not want to write about something that was already widely published. Though I did not find any articles that covered this subject in depth, there is much Internet “buzz” on the matter.

First, there are a countless number of children’s books that have “Kid” in the title or are advertised under the heading “Books for Kids”. This includes religious material, toys, sports equipment, etc. At one time there was even a brand of “sneakers” (“tennis shoes” if you are not a baby boomer) that used the word. So at this date, “kid” is widely used instead of “child”. Heck, everyone calls their offspring a kid don’t they?  Most parents and children today perhaps do not consider this wrong or derogatory  (and I did not use to think it was either)

At some point in my journey through life, calling a child a kid started sounding disrespectful and crass to me. It does however seem that when a woman says “kid” or “kids” (as in “my kids”), the word comes out in a kinder tone than when a man says it (this is assuming that neither one is mad at the child). But after researching this further, I still object to referring to children as “kids”.

“Kid” is mentioned in the KJV Bible about 75 times. This is always in reference to a goat. “Children” or “Child” is used in the KJV Bible when referring to the young offspring of living souls (commonly called people).

This definition is from a 1987 (abridged) Webster’s Dictionary: “kid n. young goat; (sl.) child.- v.t. (sl.) to hoax.” The primary definition is that of an animal. It defines calling a child a kid as slang (sl.).

This definition is from a 2002 (abridged) Webster’s Dictionary: “kid n. a young goat; leather made from its skin, a small wooded tub, to bring forth a kid ”. There is no reference to a child.

From www.webster-dictionary.org, Webster’s 1913 definition of “kid” is similar to the 1987 edition except the second meaning was expounded to state: “A young child or infant; hence, a simple person, easily imposed upon”. A “simple person easily imposed upon”? This seems to be a negative description of someone. Keep that definition in mind as we dive into this farther.

“Kid” is not defined in the 7th edition of Black’s Law Dictionary. There is a “kiddy tax” listed however in reference to “… a child’s unearned income …”. “Kiddy tax” may just be term coined by the public to label another tax. I looked briefly into the section of the IRS code that describes this tax. There is no heading labeled “kiddie tax” and though “child” is mentioned throughout the code, “kid” is not. So “kid” may not be common usage in law.

There is evidence that “kid” and “kiddo” was used as early as 1812 and prior as a descriptor for young thieves and pugilist (sporting boxers/fighters). Examples: Billy the Kid, Benny the Kid. Ted Kid Lewis, etc. Etymology Online (www.etymonline.com) states that along with thieves and pugilists, children involved in vaudeville acts were also labeled as “kid” this or that. There are other indications that “kid” was accepted as a common use for “labeling” something other than baby goats.

And one other tidbit to put here before I continue with my own thoughts, the word “kinder” means children in the German language. This is the origin of “kindergarten”. “Garten” in German means, “garden”. So “kindergarten” is a garden of children. I have a whole bunch of things to say about that subject but will save it for a different article. So anyway, since these united states is a multicultural bunch of people, it could possibly be that “kinder” evolved (or devolved) into “kid” in reference to children. The word “kinder” means something totally different in the American English language of today.

So, “kid” in English has meant a baby goat for a couple thousand years or so. The KJV translation of the Bible confirms this. The primary definition for the word is also a baby goat in modern dictionaries. At least one edition of one dictionary does not define a kid as the child of a living soul (commonly called people). The use of “kid” in reference to children may have originated from Germany by a convolution of the word “kinder”.

With all of that said, it appears that “kid” was originally used in the American English in reference to a young rascal of notability/notoriety (example: a famous thief), or other young people who wanted to stand out in their field of occupation or stardom (boxer, vaudeville actor etc).

So here is a speculation. Perhaps somewhere, sometime, there was a play, a book, or a movie where “kid” was used to endear us to some child or childlike character. This endearment caught on and parents of “common” children began referencing their offspring as “kids”.

Conclusion

So after all of this, I still do not like labeling and calling children “kids”. I have been working on changing my habit of this for some time now and almost have it corrected lest I be labeled as a hypocrite. There was one individual’s statement that I found which is pretty much in tune with my feelings:  “…refer to a child as a ‘kid’ and one should not be surprised if they behave like small animals. It is disrespectful, assuming that their parents are not goats or antelopes; should adults expect respect if they are unwilling to give it to their young people?” I would give them credit for this statement here if I knew who they were. May God bless them wherever they are.

And in all fairness, I must point out that other countries and cultures have different words of endearment for their children. These labels are usually confined for usage between the child and parent or other close family members. They are not meant for common usage. Here are but a few: “curtain climber”, “nipper”, “nestling”, “little shaver”, “rug rat”, “small fry”, “tike” (or tyke), and “youngster”. Their are more of course depending on ones culture, language, geographic location, etc.

And that is all I wanted to say and that is my two cents for what it is worth.







1 comment:

Comments are welcome but please keep them short and CLEAN.
Edit from JBHWonders daughter: This blog belonged to my father. He unfortunately lost his battle with cancer in March 2018. I'm sure he would still welcome comments on any of his postings, but please respect his wishes to keep them short and CLEAN, and I'll add RESPECTFUL of him. He was a brilliant man of few words with lots of good information to offer, which is why he created this blog. Thank you to all his faithful readers. -Jessica