[PW] Names for relatives

[Marian Drabkin]

The Yiddish term for those related to you by marriage is mechutaynim.  Those 
related to you by blood are mishpocha.
So the parents of the bride and the parents of the groom are each other's
mechutaynim.  (Dialect pronunciations will, of course, vary.  This is the 
way my relatives said it.)
As far as I know, there isn't any corresponding term in English -- but I bet 
anything that there are such terms in the various Native American languages, 
which have many terms for relationships that don't exist in English.

Marian Drabkin
Ventura, California

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Janice Sellers" <janicemsj at gmail.com>
To: <list at project-wombat.org>
Sent: Saturday, November 03, 2007 9:03 AM
Subject: Re: [PW] Names for relatives


> Yiddish has a term, neither of which I remember, for each set of
> parents, but I have been told that no corresponding terms exist in
> English.
>
> Janice Sellers
> Oakland, California
>
> On 11/3/07, Jocelyn Shaw <redfernshaw at gmail.com> wrote:
>> This is my patron's question:  "Is there a term that is used to describe 
>> one
>> set of parents to another in a marraige?  For instnace I have a mother 
>> and
>> father in law as does my wife.  But, what if anything, do our parents 
>> call
>> each other?  Parents in law, maybe? "
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