# Brother-in- Law's Brother **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 17, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brother-in-laws-brother/308720 "2005-06-17T16:43:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rippingtons\_fan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rippingtons_fan/32/11767_2.png) [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brother-in-laws-brother/308720/1 "2005-06-17T16:43:43Z")
Would a brother-in-law’s brother also be a brother-in-law? How does this work in other cultures? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brother-in-laws-brother/308720/2 "2005-06-17T16:48:35Z")
I always call my BIL’s brother my brother-in-law-in-law. Astonishingly enough, not a single person other than myself is amused by this. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brother-in-laws-brother/308720/3 "2005-06-17T16:54:12Z")
I call my brother-in-law’s brother, Larry. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brother-in-laws-brother/308720/4 "2005-06-17T16:55:17Z")
> [@hillbilly queen](#): > > I call my brother-in-law’s brother, Larry. You hussy! ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brother-in-laws-brother/308720/5 "2005-06-17T16:57:51Z")
In America, no. We don’t have enough names for relationships, IMHO. For example, my husband has a sister. She is my sister-in-law, but her husband is not **my** brother-in-law, but he is my husband’s brother-in-law. I think. I’d like for there to be a name for the relationship between me and my daughter-in-law’s parents, in a perfect world. **twickster** I think that’s pretty funny. I smiled, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brother-in-laws-brother/308720/6 "2005-06-17T17:01:03Z")
It depends on how he became your Brother-in-Law. If the BIL in question is your spouse’s brother, then it is a certainty that his brothers would also be your Brothers-in-Law. On the other hand, if your BIL is the spouse of your sister, then his brother would be your sister’s BIL, but not yours. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brother-in-laws-brother/308720/7 "2005-06-17T17:06:42Z")
The one that confuses me is, what to call my BIL’s wife (the woman married to my husband’s brother). I always called her my sister-in-law. But aparantly that’s not correct. ---
**Author:** ![rippingtons\_fan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rippingtons_fan/32/11767_2.png) [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brother-in-laws-brother/308720/8 "2005-06-17T17:09:02Z")
> [@Cub Mistress](#): > > In America, no. We don’t have enough names for relationships, IMHO. For example, my husband has a sister. She is my sister-in-law, but her husband is not **my** brother-in-law, but he is my husband’s brother-in-law. I think. > > I’d like for there to be a name for the relationship between me and my daughter-in-law’s parents, in a perfect world. > > **twickster** I think that’s pretty funny. I smiled, anyway. Actually, since we have so many cultures represented here in the U.S.A., we should start using all kinship terms from all of these cultures. Ultimately, aren’t all people related to each other anyway? ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brother-in-laws-brother/308720/9 "2005-06-17T17:12:10Z")
> [@hillbilly queen](#): > > The one that confuses me is, what to call my BIL’s wife (the woman married to my husband’s brother). I always called her my sister-in-law. But aparantly that’s not correct. Why not? I think in most families that I know of a brother-in-law’s wife is always called a sister-in-law, and vice-versa. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brother-in-laws-brother/308720/10 "2005-06-17T17:24:47Z")
I once started a thread about my BIL and SIL’s sex life. I got a bunch of hillbilly jokes because supposedly my SIL would be my BIL’s sister and not his wife. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brother-in-laws-brother/308720/11 "2005-06-17T17:47:23Z")
My brother-in-law’s wife (_i.e._, Deb’s sister-in-law) and I always referred to each other as the out-laws. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brother-in-laws-brother/308720/12 "2005-06-17T18:37:37Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > My brother-in-law’s wife (_i.e._, Deb’s sister-in-law) and I always referred to each other as the out-laws. At family gatherings we’ve always had in-laws and out-laws. That usually how the Trivial Pursuit teams are made up. When marriage is illegal, only outlaws will have in-laws. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brother-in-laws-brother/308720/13 "2005-06-17T19:04:00Z")
Usually when trying to tell a story about a “distant” relative like that (maybe like my cousin’s husband’s brother) I usually end up saying “this guy I know…” ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brother-in-laws-brother/308720/14 "2005-06-17T19:05:14Z")
[not quite on-topic] I always liked George Jones referring to the ex-husbands of his wife/wives as “husband-in-law.” [/nqot]