Fine Distinctions

May 21, 2024 12:55 PM

Probe all the nuances, niceties, and subtle shades of meaning your little heart desires. from A Hairsplitter’s Odyssey by Eli Burnstein

97: The Dictionary of Fine Distinctions (with Eli Burnstein) [Because Language]

posted by chavenet (13 comments total)

more labyrinths
posted by HearHere at 2:41 PM on May 21 [2 favorites]

This is educational and fun.
posted by Czjewel at 3:40 PM on May 21 [1 favorite]

Penelope Reed Doob just sounds like someone I'd like to hang out with. Also, regarding the cousinhood, does that mean your aunts and uncles are cousins once removed? I don't get it.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:26 PM on May 21 [1 favorite]

Your cousins once removed are your cousin's kids, (or, in the other directipn, your parents' cousins).
posted by BungaDunga at 4:34 PM on May 21 [1 favorite]

Your cousins once removed are your cousin's kids, (or, in the other directipn, your parents' cousins).

This is actually more clear than the article. Thanks. So your cousin once removed could be your parent's cousin, which makes their kids your second cousins. Right? This is turning into a dertail, when we should be talking about labyrinths, so I will stop now. :)
posted by Literaryhero at 10:53 PM on May 21 [1 favorite]

Pamela Reed Doob's book—recommended—was my first exposure to serious writing about labyrinths. I'm fascinated by them and have visited/walked very few. I have also traversed a maize maze. Which is fun to say.
posted by the sobsister at 9:37 AM on May 22 [1 favorite]

does that mean your aunts and uncles are cousins once removed?

No. See this handy chart.
posted by flabdablet at 10:59 AM on May 22 [1 favorite]

Also: cousinhood, like siblinghood but unlike aunticity or uncletude, is symmetric: if she is my first cousin once removed, then I am also hers even though we belong to different generations with respect to our common ancestor.
posted by flabdablet at 11:04 AM on May 22 [2 favorites]

with respect to our common ancestor.

*lifts teacup with pinky finger out* I don't have common ancestors.
posted by Literaryhero at 5:54 PM on May 22 [2 favorites]

Of course not, Aunt.

More laudanum?
posted by flabdablet at 11:53 PM on May 22 [2 favorites]

I know the terms aunt/uncle and neice/nephew/nibling contain more information, but how are they not first cousin once removed?

The terms cousin-uncle/aunt and cousin-niece/nephew are sometimes used to describe the direction of the removal of the relationship, especially in Mennonite, Indian, and Pakistani [citation needed] families. These terms relate to a first cousin once removed, uncle/aunt referring to an older generation and niece/nephew for younger ones. For additional removals grand/great are applied to these relationships

— https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin#Basic_definitions
posted by Cogito at 11:27 AM on May 23 [1 favorite]

how are they not first cousin once removed?

Your aunts and uncles are your parents' siblings. Your first cousins once removed are either your parents' first cousins or your first cousins' children.

           great-grandparents
           /                \
         grandparents    great-aunts, great-uncles
         /         \                        \
      parents      aunts, uncles     first cousins once removed
      /     \             \          (aka cousin-aunts, cousin-uncles)
    you    siblings    first cousins
    /            \             \
children    nieces, nephews    more first cousins once removed
                               (aka cousin-nieces, cousin-nephews)

Your aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews are arguably your siblings once removed, but they're not your first cousins once removed.
posted by flabdablet at 8:08 PM on May 23 [1 favorite]

On fine distinctions: ancestry.com would prefer us all to use the terms grand-aunt and grand-uncle to refer to our grandparents' siblings, reserving the great- prefix for relatives three generations back rather than two.

Merriam-Webster lists grandaunt and granduncle as synonyms for great-aunt and great-uncle, though. And while I'm sure that makes genealogists grind their teeth, it is what it is: English sucks.

That said, ancestry.com's preferred usage is not even internally consistent. Nobody refers to their great-grandparents as great-parents, so the proper prefix for relatives three generations back should therefore be great-grand, not great- alone.

Apropos of not much, a granduncle sounds like a terrible skin infection.
posted by flabdablet at 9:20 PM on May 23 [1 favorite]