A woman in Farmers Branch, Texas, explains how the simple term cousin succinctly denotes a complicated relationship. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “”Cousin” is a Word for Complicated Relationships”
We’ve talked before about how English has a certain poverty of terms when it comes to kinship compared to other languages, and that prompted a note from Diane Barentine.
She lives in Farmer’s Branch, Texas, and she says, it reminds me of a funny experience. I went with my husband to the funeral of the husband of the late sister of the late mother of his late first wife. No blood relation to either of us. People asked me our relation, and when I tried to explain, their eyes glazed over.
My husband was married to the daughter of Big Gus’s first wife’s sister-in-law. And everybody said, what? And she writes, so the daughter-in-law of the deceased took my arm and led me around the room, introducing me as our cousin from Dallas. Years later, we’re still the cousins from Dallas.
Old-time Texans have long used the word cousin to describe a difficult-to-explain relationship. Absolutely. And it is that way around the world. I’m thinking of Hawaii, for example. Cuz can just be your literal cousin or just close friend of the family who’s kind of in your peer group, kind of your age.
Yeah, it’s sort of like our discussion about aunts or aunts. An uncle, right. Yeah, and many calls. We got so much email and so many phone calls, and we talked about calling people uncle or aunt out of respect. Not because they’re blood related to you or marriage related to you.
Yeah, that’s a lot easier than my husband was married to the daughter of Big Gus’s first wife’s sister-in-law. But that’s a real connection. That’s what’s interesting to me is like it sounds strange to say, but when you’re living that relationship, it’s real and authentic, and you are a part of the family.
Yeah, you just need a chart or something. 877-929-9673.
