Katya in Jacksonville, Florida, says her German-speaking parents think that when someone expresses a wish, it’s hilarious to respond with the German saying Wenn Oma Räder hätte, wäre sie ein Omnibus, which means “If Grandma had wheels...
Robert in Dover, Delaware, grew up hearing different ways to say aunt, from the version that sounds like ant to the same broader vowel as in haunt common in parts of the East Coast. In most of the United States, aunt rhymes with ant. The other...
Emily from Madison, Wisconsin, has three nieces and a nephew, and wonders if there’s a gender-neutral term for the group of them, in the same way cousins can designate one or two genders. German has the single word Geschwisterkind, meaning...
Ann from Fort Worth, Texas, says her elderly aunt was talking disparagingly about two people who, in her words, wet around the same stump. This expression isn’t all that common, but it does appear in Sarah Bird’s 1999 novel Virgin of the...
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”...
A transgender and gender-nonconforming listener wonders if there’s a gender-neutral term for “aunt” or “uncle.” Some people have suggested pibling, meaning the “sibling of one’s parent.” Others have...