Hi I have a lunguistic doubt. Two brothers means two male people who have the same parents, Two sisters means two female people who have the same parents, Two siblings means two people without specifing their gender who have the same parents. In general, when a person use the word siblings, he/she means a brother and a sister, right? So, if we do the same with the word son and daughter, we will have: Two sons means two male children of a couple of parents, Two daughters means two female children of a couple of parents, ????? -----> That's my doubt. Is there a gender neutral name? If I don't want to specify the gender of the sons/daughters, have I use the word children? But isn't children a word more for babies or for young people? Enlighten me, please!
It's pretty normal (at least where I live) to say "children" when talking about reproducing and not specifying gender. I'd say, "I'm going to have kids when I grow up," or "I'm going to have children when I grow up." Children sounds right to me. Offspring would work, but that doesn't sound very conversational where I live. That sounds more scientific/formal.
The sentence in which I need that word is this, nearly formal: Androgynes are sons/daughters/* of the moon. *Kids? Isn't it too immature? *Children? I don't know. What about this? *Offspring? It seems the best but I need your advice. Aren't there other words? ---------- Post added 11th Apr 2014 at 10:28 PM ---------- :lol: I didn't notice that. It was a careless mistake
I thought so too, but I pointed it out anyway. Typos happen all the time. In my opinion, children is a neutral word and will work in formal contexts as well.
I think children would be the best word for this case. "Androgynes are children of the moon." Yes, I like how this sounds. I agree that "kids" sounds pretty immature, but "children" works in a more formal context. IMO, "offspring" sounds stilted and "progeny" sounds strange.
I'm from a farming background, and we'd use 'offspring' with animals but not humans. So when I hear 'offspring', I think of calves and chicks rather than babies. Children sounds best. Given a suitable context, it can still apply to adults.
In more formal usage, children is the correct word and it's age neutral. Kids is informal, but widely used across the English speaking world.
"Androgynes are children of the moon" definitely sounds good. Will I be too curious if I ask the context of the sentence? :rolle:
The contest is the explanation of the origin of men, women and androgynes in accordance with the myth of Platone
