A student of English as a foreign language with some knowledge of Latin would be forgiven for calling a non-sexual lover of children a 'paedophile'...
...but this begs the question, what do you call someone who loves children in the most natural, innocent of ways?
I would probably call someone who lives children "someone who loves children". For example, "X loved children and always looked forward to visits from her grandchildren".
A student of English as a foreign language might also note that the use of "beg the question" to mean something like "prompt the question" is widespread but by no means universally accepted.
Edited by: alan1972
No amount of Latin would get your student to paedophile. It's Greek.
On the main question, I agree with alan.
[quote]"No amount of Latin would get your student to paedophile. It's Greek."[/quote]
LOL - fair 'nough...
And don't worry, this question was purley hypothetical; luckily for the English-learning population I'm not a teacher...
Edited by: MeAndMyMike
Philoprogenitiveness, n. [Philo- + L. progenies offspring.] Phren [*].
The love of offspring; fondness for children.
[*] the term comes from the "science" of phrenology, which is as a system for assessing your personality from the bumps on your head. Philoprogenitiveness can be assessed by reading a bump on the lower back of the head.
Louisa May Alcott used it in Little Women
>Gentlemen are sometimes seized with sudden fits of admiration for the young relatives of ladies whom they honor with their regard, but this counterfeit philoprogenitiveness sits uneasily upon them, and does not deceive anybody a particle.
I've been thinking about this question and I believe it does have to be spelled out clearly so as not to cause misunderstanding.
You could say something like:
''Mrs Jones, you have a most pretty and delightful young boy. I find that I love him very much – in a non-sexual way, of course.''
What do i call people who love children in the most innocent of ways?
Parents. They also know the child can be spawns of satan if they want to be :)
Seriously, i don't know but nutrax seems to have found the answer. I had a teacher in high school who hated the word peodophile because she always thought it was making a lovely word nasty.
Provided the class with some snickering when she proclaimed to love the word 'peodophile'!!