Kid Gloves, Corruption, and Donald Trump

There is an expression that I’d wager most people have heard or even used themselves: to handle (or treat) something with kid gloves. The sense of this expression is that of a gentle or delicate approach: whatever is being handled is being handled carefully. For instance, a tense diplomatic situation might require “kid gloves.” Or someone tasked with laying off employees might be told by management to “handle it with kid gloves.”

But what does the phrase actually mean? Some might assume that the “kid” in the phrase “kid gloves” is some sort of age-based…