When did it happen?

When they say 'can I help you young lady?' when they can see it has been a very long time since I was a young lady - patronising. I help out in a school. Heaven help us if we refer to the children as kids.

Here's looking at you kid

According to one source, the usage of kid to mean child goes back to the 17th century. In the 19th century, it was current among reputable users, so sorry, not common or ignorant, and I'll continue to use it.

"Are you all right there?" is the worst, when I'm standing at the bar trying to buy a pint. No I'm not all right; I want a drink!

Second worst is being addressed as "Young man". That was a mercifully long time ago.

Oh I like it when they call me Madam in John Lewis or Waitrose!! I can channel my inner Audrey fforbes -Hamilton/Margo and smile all gracious like.
What I DO hate is an assistant greeting me with "Are you all right there?" Instead of "Can I help you?"
If I am drumming my fingers on the top of the counter and CLEARLY waiting to be served, No I am not "all right there"!!

Oh not the 'i hate the term kids' topic again, followed inevitably by the 'I hate the term guys'

Who cares? Haven't you anything more important to dislike?

Penstemmon I always supposed kid, meaning a child, derived from kith, as in kith and kin. Kith would have been pronounced with a "hard" th as in the, rather than the "soft" th it has now. Also the eth symbol for the hard th closely resembles a d.

Gosh.. nobody has called me madam for years! It used to be a popular form of address in some shops!

Kids may not refer to goats but some sources suggest it could be an evolution of the German word 'kind'.
I do not mind the use of the word to refer to children. It is how the words are said that matter! You can be affectionate/respectful when uttering kid/child or disparaging. That is what is more important to me than which particular word is used.

It is the "d" in it I think.

But it is an honour to be called Ma'am? As in the Queen . The only difference being how it is said.

I hate being called Madam and this happens a lot in Waitrose. The next time somebody calls me that I will say that I do not run a brothel.

I dislike "kids" too. I used to be corrected by my pedantic mother, who thought she was a cut above.

But it's not on the same scale of cringeworthiness as GUYS. Really, really dislike it and not sure why. Definitely a grumpy old woman in the making, me. .

direne thanks for the explanation , I wasn't living in the UK then. So I don't really know about "classes" either .

Sorry, Grannyknot, what I said was 'in the 60's it was regarded as'. I accept that the English language has evolved but was merely speculating when the term became so widely accepted and used across all classes of our society. (Mothers/teachers would have pulled children up sharply if they had used the term prior to that era).

Oh I hate 'grandkids' as well!! There was one of those stupid insurance plan TV ads where the cheery granny type wanted 'to leave a bit for the grandkids ' Cue abuse hurled at tv! And don't start me on 'newborns '......what was wrong with 'baby'?

I'm not overly keen and don't use it myself, but hey ho our language is forever evolving and changing. Who'd have thought 'sick' meant anything other than illness or vomit. I inwardly cringe but say nothing. It does make me realise that I'm starting to get a bit crotchety. My standards are mine and not part of this new emerging language the next generation use.

I really hate the term, grandkids.

Common? Ignorant? That's a bit harsh.

Depends where you are in the world, in some countries it's perfectly acceptable to say "kid" and it will have nothing to do with goats.

I do agree and never use the word.