Kid gloves

Reader question:

Please explain “kid gloves” in this sentence – Saudis treat pilgrims with kid gloves.

My comments:

It means that the Saudis treat pilgrims nicely, not rudely or roughly.

“Kid gloves” is an age-old idiom referring to fine gloves made from a kid’s kin. The “kid” here, of course, has nothing to do with children. “Kid” originally referred to a young goat. This meaning was first recorded from circa 1200, according to Online Etymology Dictionary. Its extended meaning of “child” was “first recorded as slang in 1599, established in informal usage by 1840s.”

Anyways, before any children were involved, kidskin had been widely used for making extra fine leather gloves. Therefore, if you handle something (fragile) or someone (sensitive) with kid gloves, you treat them gently and with special care in order to avoid causing damage or offense.

Obviously the pilgrims, millions of Muslims from around the world to visit Mecca every year, are a sensitive issue to Saudi Arabia. Therefore the Saudis are said to be handling the matter with “kid gloves”, that is, carefully and tactfully, in order to avoid diplomatic or religious controversy.

Alright, here are more media examples of the phrase “kid glove”:

1. Media observers note that the president often gets kid-glove treatment from the press, fellow Democrats and, particularly, interest groups on the left — Bush’s loudest critics, Obama’s biggest backers.

But others say there’s a larger phenomenon at work — in the story line the media wrote about Obama’s presidency. For Bush, the theme was that of a Big Business Republican who rode the family name to the White House, so stories about secret energy meetings and a certain laziness, intellectual and otherwise, fit neatly into the theme, to be replayed over and over again.

Obama’s story line was more positive from the start: historic newcomer coming to shake up Washington. So the negatives that sprung up around Obama — like a sense that he was more flash than substance — track what negative coverage he’s received, captured in a recent “Saturday Night Live” skit that made fun of his lack of accomplishments in office.

“There may well be almost an unconscious effort on the part of the media to give Obama a bit more slack because he is more likable, because he is the first African-American president. That plays into it,” said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a political analyst at the University of Southern California.

- What if Bush had done that? Politico.com, October 27, 2009.

2. She messed up her first interviews, didn’t show much of a grasp of the issues and, dontcha know, had a speech pattern that was widely mimicked.

Sarah Palin? You betcha. But Caroline Kennedy also fits the bill.

The difference is that while the conservative Republican Palin was ridiculed in the press and on “Saturday Night Live” in her quest to be vice president, the liberal Democratic Kennedy, after early criticism in the media, remains the perceived favorite in her bid for a Senate seat from New York.

In an interview with conservative radio talk-show host and filmmaker John Ziegler, Palin questioned whether Kennedy was getting better treatment than Palin did as Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s running mate. Clips from Ziegler’s interview were posted on YouTube this week.

“I’ve been interested to see how Caroline Kennedy will be handled and if she will be handled with kid gloves or if she will be under such a microscope,” Palin said.

- Is Kennedy getting ‘kid glove’ treatment? AP, January 9, 2009.

3. Wait, there’s more. McGrady apparently believes owner Leslie Alexander would rather collect the insurance money on McGrady’s $23.3 million contract than have McGrady in uniform.

Well now — cough, shuffle feet, look uncomfortable — wouldn’t you? Given the choice of an aging, selfish former star or a chunk of money, Alexander ought to prefer the money.

One problem with this theory is the Rockets didn’t take out the insurance policy looking for an exit strategy. They took it out because the NBA requires each team to insure its five largest contracts….

Alexander is said to be livid that McGrady would accuse him of such a thing. McGrady has made $120 million of Alexander’s money in his time with the Rockets and has gotten kid glove treatment in every way.

- T-Mac’s act forces team into reaction, Houston Chronicle, November 20, 2009.