# Tell us an interesting random fact you stumbled across (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 13, 2020, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674 "2020-04-13T03:19:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 417
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8331 "2023-12-09T19:03:08Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > And there is no single word for “aunt or uncle” in English.   In Korean there’s no single word for “sister of your father or mother”. Nor, “brother of your mother or father”. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8332 "2023-12-09T19:24:26Z")
In Chinese, by contrast, there is a somewhat large lexicon that describes the relational position of a family member very specifically. It is my understanding that Russian used to be similarly specific but the usage patterns atrophied and dropped off about a century ago. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8333 "2023-12-09T19:57:15Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > And there is no single word for “aunt or uncle” in English. Or niece/nephew although “nibling” is starting to be used and “pibling” for aunt/uncle. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8334 "2023-12-09T20:51:49Z")
And of course “brother/sister in-law” describes two entirely different situations: a sibling’s spouse or a spouse’s siblings. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8335 "2023-12-09T20:56:15Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > And of course “brother/sister in-law” describes two entirely different situations: a sibling’s spouse or a spouse’s siblings Which brings up the ongoing argument in our family: My wife’s sister, ‘Carol’, is married to ‘Tom’. Tom, then, is my wife’s brother-in-law. Is Tom also my brother-in-law? I say yes, but other family members say no. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8336 "2023-12-09T21:02:43Z")
I agree with @Lumpy’s definition. My wife’s brother is my brother-in-law My sister’s husband is my brother-in-law My wife’s sister’s husband is her brother-in-law but not mine. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8337 "2023-12-09T21:09:09Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > My wife’s sister’s husband is her brother-in-law but not mine. According to [Cambridge online dictionary](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/brother-in-law), a brother-in-law is: > the husband of your sister or brother, or the brother of your husband or wife, or the man who is married to the sister or brother of your wife or husband ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8338 "2023-12-09T21:17:58Z")
Ok. I’ll accept that. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8339 "2023-12-09T21:57:25Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > “Oh, come on Ann. Sure, I got your sister pregnant, but it was an experiment!” I think [Ann and Andy](https://www.echapps.com/cdn/shop/products/71Kn82i7KfL._AC_SL1500_1125x.jpg?v=1626205827) are themselves siblings… Last I saw, Google usually recommended swimming across the Atlantic, but kayaking across the Pacific. I have to wonder about head and pubic lice populations being isolated from each other by loss of body hair: Surely, contact between human heads and pubic areas isn’t that rare? And that cloud leopard is most definitely gorgeous. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8340 "2023-12-09T22:08:50Z")
I will agree with you, but I do call my brother’s mother-in-law my mother-in-law-in-law. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8341 "2023-12-09T22:49:17Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > According to [Cambridge online dictionary](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/brother-in-law), a brother-in-law is: Technically, a brother- or sister-in-law is separated by one degree of marriage. People colloquially use the term more broadly, though. See [brother-in-law - Wiktionary, the free dictionary](https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/brother-in-law) > [@](#): > > 1. A male relative of one’s generation, separated by one degree of marriage: > The brother of one’s spouse. > The husband of one’s sibling. > > 2. (uncommon) Co-brother-in-law: A male relative of one’s generation, separated by two degrees of marriage: > The husband of the sibling of one’s spouse. quotations ▼ > The brother of the spouse of one’s sibling. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8342 "2023-12-09T23:09:41Z")
Is the guy my wife’s sister hasn’t actually married my brother-out-law? Of just her brother-out-law? ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8343 "2023-12-09T23:25:26Z")
Only if his name is Josey Wales. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8344 "2023-12-09T23:25:32Z")
I don’t think it’s an outlaw unless it’s someone on the wrong side of the law. If your sister-in-law is this guy’s bigamous second wife, maybe your wife’s brother-out-law. Or if they’re first cousins in a place where that’s illegal, but they got married anyway. Otherwise he’s just a brother-not-in-law, or not a brother-in-law for short, for either one of you. If they had some sort of other contractual arrangement he could be a rentboy-in-law, domestic-partner-in-law, roommate-in-law… the possibilities are endless. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8345 "2023-12-09T23:30:56Z")
If I married a widow while my widowed father married her daughter, would that make me my own grandpa? ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8346 "2023-12-09T23:44:33Z")
I refer to my siblings unmarried long-term (25+ years in one case) as my sister- and brother-out-law. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8347 "2023-12-10T01:02:26Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > If I married a widow while my widowed father married her daughter, would that make me my own grandpa? This expert says yes: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/bkX7IW7jpMw/maxresdefault.jpg "I'm My Own Grandpa") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkX7IW7jpMw) ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8348 "2023-12-10T01:56:18Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > If I married a widow while my widowed father married her daughter, would that make me my own grandpa? granpadrastro ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8349 "2023-12-10T05:37:25Z")
Swedish (and perhaps other languages too) have separate words for “maternal grandfather” , “maternal grandmother”, and the same on the fathers side. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8350 "2023-12-10T14:21:15Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Is the guy my wife’s sister hasn’t actually married my brother-out-law? Of just her brother-out-law? > [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > I refer to my siblings unmarried long-term (25+ years in one case) as my sister- and brother-out-law. The woman my son lives with is my daughter-in-custom-and-practice, if that helps. j [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=416) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=418)