whase Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 In Dutch, we have 1 word for both the children of your aunt and uncle's children, and for the children of your own brothers and sisters. And in all my years at school, I have never heard this to be different for the English language. But today, the mother of a friend of mine, who studied for English teacher, told us cousin is only for uncle and aunt's children, and nephew/niece is only for your brother's and sister's children... so now I want to know if everyone knows about this, were me and my friend the only ones making this mistake? Or is this something new for you too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicious Sal Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Het is ook lastig, ik snap het na al die tijd nog niet goed, ik haal het aldoor door de war! xD Conclusion... We find it strange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kintenbo Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Yeah, it's true. I have plenty of cousins (all significantly older than me) from my uncles and aunts, but I don't have any nephews or nieces from my brother or sister. Also, for children of your cousins, they are usually called second cousins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balcerzak Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Yeah, it's true. I have plenty of cousins (all significantly older than me) from my uncles and aunts, but I don't have any nephews or nieces from my brother or sister. Also, for children of your cousins, they are usually called second cousins. I thought those were just first cousins "once removed", and that second cousins were something like your cousins' cousins. NB: This is not my area of expertise. I am quite possibly wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celice Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Holy shit. Thank you for explaining this cousin/nephew thing to me. I never really knew the difference. I mean now it sorta makes sense in retrospective... one is kinda directly linked to your genealogy while the other is a bit more distant in its branch. Still, just call them kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kintenbo Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 I thought those were just first cousins "once removed", and that second cousins were something like your cousins' cousins. NB: This is not my area of expertise. I am quite possibly wrong. That's what my family calls them, at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zanarkin Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 (edited) I thought niece was for the children of your children (and you'd be heir grandfather/mother) and nephew is for the children of your brother/sister (and you'd be their uncle/aunt). Edited July 18, 2011 by Jhen Mohran Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rewjeo Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Well, I have second cousins once removed that I see fairly often, but I don't know which part of that refers to what. I think they're my mom's cousin's (adopted) children. Let's ask google! Second cousin once removed is the child of your second cousin or the second cousin on one's father or mother. So maybe they're my second cousins twice removed? Or once removed and then reverse removed? Basically, in English family relations are confusing. Google also says that cousin can refer to anyone with whom you share a common ancestor. So everyone is cousins! Technically, my dogs and I are cousins! That makes it so much easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fire Emblem Addict Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Well, I have second cousins once removed that I see fairly often, but I don't know which part of that refers to what. I think they're my mom's cousin's (adopted) children. Let's ask google! Second cousin once removed is the child of your second cousin or the second cousin on one's father or mother. So maybe they're my second cousins twice removed? Or once removed and then reverse removed? Basically, in English family relations are confusing. Google also says that cousin can refer to anyone with whom you share a common ancestor. So everyone is cousins! Technically, my dogs and I are cousins! That makes it so much easier. Damn, so if I'm eating a cucumber I'm eating one of my cousins? Yuck! Anyways, first cousins are generally from the same generation as you while nieces/nephews are a generation lower. That's how I make the distinction anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kintenbo Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 I thought niece was for the children of your children (and you'd be heir grandfather/mother) and nephew is for the children of your brother/sister (and you'd be their uncle/aunt). Nephew is the male child of a sibling, niece is the female child. For example, I am the nephew of my dad's and mom's brothers (none of them have sisters), while my sister is their niece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byte2222 Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 What's been said about cousin/niece/nephew is all correct but I'd like to clarify on the things like first/second cousins etc. Your first cousin (usually just called cousin) is your parent's sibling's child Your second cousin is your grandparent's sibling's grandchild Your third cousin is your great-grandparent's sibling's great-grandchild And so on. As for being "removed" there is one level of "removal" for each generation they are away from that relation. e.g. your first cousin once removed is your cousin's child Your second cousin twice removed can be your grandparent's sibling's grandchild's grandchild or your grandparent's sibling's grandchild's grandparent (your grandparent's sibling, often called your great uncle/aunt) I hope that helped (though it probably made things more confusing) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rewjeo Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 So then a second cousin is also a first cousin once removed in some cases? Like mine could be second cousins once removed or third cousins? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zanarkin Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Nephew is the male child of a sibling, niece is the female child. For example, I am the nephew of my dad's and mom's brothers (none of them have sisters), while my sister is their niece. Oh... I was confusing niece for someother word Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inactive Account Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Cousin: (usual usage) Child of one's aunt or uncle. Niece: Female child of one's sibling. Nephew: Male child of one's sibling. Second-cousin: Cousin of one's parents, IIRC. Once you get past the first three shit just gets weird, I don't know if many people really know how the terminology for that goes. Currently I'm referring to the various spawn of my various cousins as "mini-cousins" but of course that's not really correct. I've had at least one person exclaim "Oh, you're an auntie!" to me upon learning that some of my cousins have kids though, so it seems to be fairly muddled and lacking in a standard usage past cousin/niece/nephew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byte2222 Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 (edited) So then a second cousin is also a first cousin once removed in some cases? Like mine could be second cousins once removed or third cousins? Not quite, in your example above the cousins you mentioned were your second cousins (from the relation you described). A quick check is whether the family member in question is the same generation as you, if so they are not removed at all. The higher second/third etc. relate to how far back you have to go to find a direct ancestor you both share and the removal is how many generations they are away from you. e.g. the relatives you mentioned were your second cousins and their parents (your mum's cousin and partner) will be either your first cousin once removed (one generation back to your mum, then her first cousin) or your second cousin once removed (your second cousin, then back one generation to their parents). I think. Edit: Wikipedia has a chart that explains it better than me. Edited July 18, 2011 by Byte2222 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strawman Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 I have always been told that second cousins were the children of cousins, not my parents cousins. I guess I have been told wrong then? :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inactive Account Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 (edited) I do not know. Actually... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin Here we go. So a second cousin would either be your parent's cousin, or your your (first) cousin's kid. Edited July 20, 2011 by Kiryn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kintenbo Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I have always been told that second cousins were the children of cousins, not my parents cousins. I guess I have been told wrong then? :/ At this point, could be all a matter of where you live! Needless to say, the Dutch make things much more simple! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joerachi Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 This is how it generally is, as shown by my shitty example family tree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rewjeo Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 (edited) Shouldn't "1st cousin" say "once removed?" Edited July 21, 2011 by Rewjeo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Alear Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I just like calling them cousins. It's a good generic word. When people discuss these kinds of things with me I admit they aren't things I pay a great deal of attention to past a certain point. THAT BEING SAID one's extended family can be absolutely wonderful, and I think the nuclear family is overrated for our current situation (though mine is like amazing). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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