Discussion Forum (Archived)
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I'm confused...if they're your offspring, wouldn't you refer to their parents as "Me and my spouse" or "us" or something?
Although I do remember as a child that it always really confused me that my grandmother called my grandfather (her husband) "Dad". It's like they got so used to refering to each other with the name their kids used that it stuck long after the kids were gone.
Arte
I have the same question that you asked - can we adopt or create a word that would refer to the mother or father of a son-in-law or daughter-in-law? Like you, the only single word that I found came from Yiddish and is difficult for me to pronounce, and would not be understood by people that I know.
Yes, Rob. The Norwegians do have a wonderfully economical way of referring to grandparents, without the lengthy "maternal" and "paternal". However, how does one refer to the various in-laws? Would you happen to know that? In Armenian we have a word, which I will not even attempt to spell out here, that is an all-inclusive term for ALL the in-laws (maybe some outlaws,too!) you are liable to come in contact with or hear of. Well, maybe I will give it a whirl. You are in the middle of a long story, and feel the need to reference some "Calabash relative" (as my half-Greek, half-Korean friend from Hawaii used to say). Or someone asks you to explain your relationship to Shushan or Anoush. The simple answer is, "She is my KHUN-ahmie". Has anyone else ever heard the term calabash relative? Does this require a new discussion group?
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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