![]() ![]() The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 10 Nov. There are no candles, gravy boats or wine glasses to knock over. No one at the kiddie table cares that the tablecloth, napkins and sometimes the plates are disposable. (A diminutive word denotes something small, cute, or dear-for example, birdie, deary, and Tommy.) The word is used attributively when describing the table at which kids gather to eat and/or make their food sculptures. Kiddie (or kiddy) is a diminutive of kid formed by the suffix -ie (or -y), and it also originally designated the ruminant mammal before becoming the name for a young person. Elisabeth Sherman, Food & Wine, 20 Dec. Some snarky teenager sitting at the kid's table will take a photo of your oddly shape cake slice and post it on Twitter, and then you'll become the laughing stock of family dinners for the next three years. If you dare to cut your dessert in anything less than perfectly symmetrical slices, you may ruin your entire party and upset your guests to the point of complete despair. There was an "adult table" and a "kid table," each with a white pumpkin soup bowl ready to be filled. Brian Reid, The Washington Post, 25 Nov. Unlike the adult table, where all of the participants were stuck in their chairs to make small talk, for what seemed like hours, we were free to sneak away, turkey half-eaten and explore the basement, where all manner of treasures were buried. We were out of sight and out of mind, giving us ample opportunity to be silly, tell tall tales and build elaborate sculptures with our mashed potatoes. The holiday didn't really start until we were banished to the kids' table, one room away. Being attributive means the noun kid is a noun that is modifying the noun it precedes-in other words, it is a noun used like an adjective. The adjective means "younger," as in "kid sister/brother," and although the table has younger eaters, it itself isn't younger. The designation kid table uses kid as an attributive noun, not as an adjective. Kids' table, with the apostrophe after the s, is the correct possessive form since it indicates plural possession however, kid's table is sometimes used, which grammatically doesn't make much sense because it suggests that the table is for one child (we feel for that kid). Nevertheless, by the 19th century, it starts becoming a ubiquitous word in that meaning and, in time, is applied possessively or attributively to designate a table for the young people partaking in a multi-generational meal. The sense likely comes about by association, but we're not exactly sure if the goat's youth or bleating (or both) influenced it. It eventually finds its place in slang as a word for a young person. Kid arrives in the English language in the early 13th century as a word for a young goat and is of Scandinavian parentage. This gives us the opportunity to talk about possessive and attributive use of kid, kiddie, kiddy, kiddo, kidlet, child, and children when used with table-as well as to engage in some table talk about their origins. ![]() The naming of the table is a family affair-in other words, different families call it different things. The adults seat themselves at the " adult table" the non-adults (children and, perhaps, young adults who have not graduated to the adult table yet) find their spot at another table, which has various names. Then the words "Everything's ready-come and eat" are heard, and the generational mingling is, more often than not, put on hold. Grandparents will share stories with their grandchildren about their mom or dad, like how they caught their mom literally mixing a brownie mix by hand (instead of a spoon) because those were the instructions on the box or how dad failed his driving test three times aunts and uncles will catch up with nieces and nephews on what they are doing or will be doing with their lives younger cousins will sit together, get the house Wi-Fi code, and start texting, playing games, and checking Instagram. At family gatherings, generations often congregate wherever the appetizers and beverages are located, or where there is a comfy couch and a television, and talk about pastimes and current and future happenings. ![]()
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