"slang" and "informal" as dict labels [WAS: shirty?]

[Kathleen E. Miller]

At 12:53 PM 2/13/2003 +0000, Michael Quinion wrote:
>It's in the same category as "kid" for child, which was once low slang,
>but which has now gained a large measure of respectability (and which NODE
>also classes as "informal").


The New York Times style book [not a dictionary, I know] says: "kid(s). As
a synonym for child or children, it is colloquial and usually too folksy."
[I wonder if folksy's too folksy.]

They sometimes let Safire get away with it in the magazine. Had a little
tiff with the editor just last week about it though.


Kathleen E. Miller
Research Assistant to William Safire
The New York Times