THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, March 26, 1996                TAG: 9603260003
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A12  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   25 lines

LOOK UP ``KIDS''

When I was in school, ``Look it up in the dictionary'' was my teachers' favorite response to the question, ``What does (a word) mean?''

Among the definitions of the word ``kid'' in Wesbter's New World Dictionary, I find, ``5. (Colloq.) a child or young person.'' The label (Colloq.) designates this word as ``characteristic of informal speech and writing, and does not indicate substandard or illiterate usage.''

Bette Cassidy Stant (letter, March 2), Margaret Davenport (letter, March 8) and the ``others'' bothered by the use of ``kids'' in reference to children need to ``Look it up in the dictionary.''

ALICE L. COLE

Norfolk, March 21, 1996 by CNB