Howdy. Never been here before. Maybe others have mentioned this little bitsy thing before, but I didn't find any mention in a quick check of 'See Everything.' So, here goes. There's a spot on this site that lists stuff about Xeney's family, saying something about having "one great niece, and one great nephew." You don't have any great nephews or nieces. Oh, well, then, of course you have some great nieces and nephews, but they're also GRAND nieces and nephews. It is my curse to understand this issue of Grand and Great-Grand. Your mother's mother is not your Great-mother. She's your Grand-mother. Your Grand-mother's mother is your Great-grand-mother. In the other direction, your children's children are not your Great-children, they are your Grand-children. Your Grand-children's children are your Great-grand-children. And so on. Depending on how many generations removed, you begin the naming with Grand and proceed to Great-grand and and keep adding greats. So those little nieces and nephews you're talking about are your Grand-nieces and Grand-nephews. Or maybe even Great-grand-nieces, depending on how many generations removed they are, but at age 30-is, I would guess they're not that far down the path. I also understand first and second cousins and 'once removed.' That's my curse. Have gotten quite a kick out of this site and am glad to see links to others. Thanks. PG.

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2000

Answers

Sorry, P.G., but you are incorrect as far as standard American useage goes, which is all that matters. There is no such thing as a grand- niece or grand-nephew in my family. My dictionary from the fifties lists "grand aunt" and not "great aunt," but my more modern dictionary lists the latter and not the former, confirming my suspicion that it's an archaic useage. (I've never heard anyone mention a "grand aunt," and the term sounds awfully pretentious to me.

Family designations like this one vary by region and by family, as well they should. Second cousins and "once removed" (which I also understand; we learned these things in law school) have legal designations and thus require a consistent meaning. The determination of who is your nana, your poppa, or your great aunt, however, is up to you and your family.

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2000

I've always wondered what you call your cousin's spouse (cousin-in-law?), or your aunt's spouse. Uncle-in-law?

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2000

For Beth. Hmmmm, it's been codified in law school. Well, we've had Grand-Aunts and Grand-nieces in our family (in New Jersey) for many generations. Archaic is probably the best word here. Much that once was is no more. Maybe I can sleep now. PG.

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2000

I use "cousin-in-law." Though at this point, with such derivations in the family as "step-cousin-in-law" (or is she a step-cousin? who knows?), it gets confusin'.

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2000

Just to muddy the waters a bit further, I have a cousin who I always used to refer to as my aunt because she's twenty-odd years older than I am. There's a potentially confusing relation (and Jack Nicholson thought he had parental mix-ups)

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2000

I also had a much older cousin I thought was an aunt. She is 5 years younger than my Father, the daughter of his oldest sister.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2000