# What relationship is your brother-in-law's wife to you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 18, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-relationship-is-your-brother-in-laws-wife-to-you/500164 "2009-06-18T12:59:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-relationship-is-your-brother-in-laws-wife-to-you/500164/41 "2009-06-20T00:32:54Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > While we’re at it, does anyone other than my extended family have a term for one’s cousin’s cousins on the other side? Like, Alice and Bob are siblings, and Carol and Dave are siblings. If Bob and Carol marry, then their kids will be cousins to both Alice’s kids and Dave’s kids. But what’s the word (if any) for the relationship between Alice’s kids and Dave’s kids? I just say “cousin’s cousin”. What’s your family’s word for it? ---
**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:** [June 20, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-relationship-is-your-brother-in-laws-wife-to-you/500164/42 "2009-06-20T17:20:15Z")
> [@](#): > > I just say “cousin’s cousin”. What’s your family’s word for it? We call them “Turkey Cousins”, largely because the group of such cousins to which we’re closest are a bunch of turkeys. It’s a surprisingly useful term. Then again, my extended family is large enough that being able to keep track of relationships is a survival trait. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-relationship-is-your-brother-in-laws-wife-to-you/500164/43 "2009-06-20T18:17:48Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Outlaw sister. My mother used this term with the similar “relations” on my dad’s side of the family, that they were the “outlaws.” I default to “\_\_\_\_-in-law” when it doesn’t matter if I distinguish the lack of blood relation. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-relationship-is-your-brother-in-laws-wife-to-you/500164/44 "2009-06-20T18:33:34Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > …parents-in-law are suegros and parents of spouses are consuegros… > [@Gary\_T](#): > > ?? The parent of my spouse is my parent-in-law - that’s the definition. I don’t follow the distinction you’re making here. My mother is my sister-in-law’s suegra; SiL’s-Mom is my brother’s suegra. Mom and SiL’s-Mom are each other’s consuegras. In my father’s family, anybody who’s joined the clan by marriage is referred to as “los agregados a la banda,” lit. “those who have been added to the band.” That means my mother, her parents and sister, my uncles’ wifes, my paternal aunt’s husband… cos yeah, they’re part of the clan but there’s some things those born to the clan do which leave “the added ones” scratching their heads in confusion no matter how long it’s been since they got added. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-relationship-is-your-brother-in-laws-wife-to-you/500164/45 "2009-06-20T18:59:20Z")
I would say “sister-in-law by marriage” indicating that you have no direct blood family ties to the relationship. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-relationship-is-your-brother-in-laws-wife-to-you/500164/46 "2009-06-21T06:21:03Z")
This is why the term “shirt-tail relative” was invented. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-relationship-is-your-brother-in-laws-wife-to-you/500164.md?page=2)