Is your aunt's husband your uncle?

[Ian]

Fairly straightforward question. Prompted by Giggles / Ben in the drinking thread (with contributions from me and niko.)

If your mum or dad have a sibling, does their partner get the appropriate 'aunt' (or aunty or whatever) or 'uncle' tag because they're married (or their long term partner or whatever) to said sibling?

[randomlegend]

Yes.

[Giggles]

Your aunts and uncles are your parents siblings. Their husbands or wives are not.

Done. Though I know prods do weird cousin stuff so fuck knows what it is over there.

[Lewis]

Obviously the beer thread was getting a bit lively and had to dull it down a bit.

[Spikey M]

Yes and it's absolutely mental to think otherwise.

[Giggles]

Say your mad 50 year old aunt rocks up with some cunt she met online and married. Like fuck he is.

Or same as me with the wife’s nieces and nephews. They’re fuck all to do with me, sure I never knew them before I met her and they were double figures by then.

[Spikey M]

You don't have to treat them as your uncle, or call them uncle, but they are your uncle. The same as if your mum married a random off the street they would be your step-dad. You don't have to start bouncing on their knee in family photos, but he would be your step-dad.

[Giggles]

They’re not though. They’re your (real) Aunt or (real) Uncles husband or wife.

Maybe it’s because we have bigger families and don’t need the excess.

[Spikey M]

It can't be down to family size because Indians call every woman that's older than them "Auntie" and, well...

[Jimmy Floyd]

Depends if I like them or not.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Yes.

Giggles is mental.

[Ian]

Oxford dictionary says "the brother of one's father or mother or the husband of one's aunt."

Where do you stand on those 'friends of the family' type aunties and uncles, Gigs?


Obviously the beer thread was getting a bit lively and had to dull it down a bit.

Sometimes we just need to take time out in there, you know.

[Shindig]

Yes. I mean, I get where you're coming from but it's pedantic.

[Giggles]

Yes.

Giggles is mental.

That settles is, I’m right.

[Raoul Duke]

I've heard of this before and I seem to remember it's something like it's only direct bloodline relatives. So, your aunt's husband wouldn't be as he's in the family by marriage.

Obviously the less mental thing is just to call them your uncle, because who cares and all this stuff is made up

[Giggles]

Or an even less mental one is that you call them aunt or uncle until you’re 12 and then wake the fuck up into the real world.

[Pen]

What if they break up? I assume they then lose the ’title’.

I think Giggles might be right in the sense they’re not actually related, but either way is acceptable. My sister us getting married in the summer and my eldest has always called her soon to be husband his uncle.

We’re not very strict with the use of the term though as he calls my cousins we see often uncles too.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I had a great succession of fake aunts.

'Aunt Joyce'. My grandad ran off with her, causing my grandmother to off herself (this was in the 70s). Joyce made it into my lifespan and was probably preferable to him tbh, though they were both awful. She painted a plate for me when I was born and apparently seethed that I wasn't named James, given that I was born on St James's Day. Her reward for this attitude was sudden death in the mid 1990s.

'Aunt Joan'. She worked with the above mentioned grandmother at Bletchley in the war, and then fucked off to Australia. We were taken there to see her in 2001 and hers is still my mental reference point for what old people's houses smell like. Took us to the pokies and got binned in the afternoon. Died shortly after that.

'Aunt Joy'. A friend of my other grandmother, and tried to step into her shoes after death. Started off by proclaiming herself 'Granny Joy', before begin rebuffed by my mother. 'Aunt Joy' was also self-proclaimed. Didn't last long, possibly no longer than a single afternoon.

'Aunt Valerie'. Aunt Joy having bitten the dust, Aunt Valerie was next up. An awful, thin-faced cow who was after my grandfather's money, or house, or whatever he owned that was valuable. She hated the mongrel dog that he had kept since his wife was alive. Eventually she told him it was her or the dog. He chose the dog.

'Aunt Sue'. Aunt Sue was like a much more successful version of Aunt Valerie, mopping up my grandfather, his house and a fair amount of his money just months before he died. Much younger than him, she later proved herself to be prolific in this area, and at last count had married/murdered at least five more men, including one reasonably well-known children's author. Very much the Gerd Muller of fake aunts.

'Aunt Eva'. By far the best of the Aunts, Aunt Eva had either been a Holocaust survivor or certainly had legged it from Nazi Germany to avoid the ovens. She ended up being a teacher in Berkshire and lived to the age of about 250 before finally petering out a few years back. How she ended up gaining Aunt status I have no idea, but she was about 40 times cleverer than any of us and always rinsed us at board/card games.

[wullie]

They're both auntie and uncle unless I was old enough to drink at their wedding.

[Alex]

They're both auntie and uncle unless I was old enough to drink at their wedding.

I'm on board with this rule.

[Panda Bear]

They're both auntie and uncle unless I was old enough to drink at their wedding. Brilliantly put.

[Shindig]

Yeah, I can't argue with that.

[Ian]

'Aunt Joy'. A friend of my other grandmother, and tried to step into her shoes after death. Started off by proclaiming herself 'Granny Joy', before begin rebuffed by my mother. 'Aunt Joy' was also self-proclaimed. Didn't last long, possibly no longer than a single afternoon.

Having to claim even friend-of-the-family-aunt for yourself is pretty tragic stuff. Going for Granny is even worse.


'Aunt Sue'. Aunt Sue was like a much more successful version of Aunt Valerie, mopping up my grandfather, his house and a fair amount of his money just months before he died. Much younger than him, she later proved herself to be prolific in this area, and at last count had married/murdered at least five more men, including one reasonably well-known children's author. Very much the Gerd Muller of fake aunts.

I think you know as well as I do you either need to name names here or not drop that titbit in at all.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I've actually got that wrong. I was thinking it was the guy who wrote Mr Men, but having googled him he died way too early and young. I'm now thinking it might have been his brother. There was definitely a Mr Men link, anyway. She got the Mr Men fortune.

[Shindig]

We only really had a couple of fake ones. Aunt Dave and Auntie Judith were basically my dad's best mate and his wife. Sound bloke. Haven't seen him in decades. Aunt Evelyn was some woman in Heworth my mam knew. I probably only saw her once.

[Ben]

I’ve got an Auntie Joanne who is just my mother’s mate but she used to change my nappy and feed me Heinz Macaroni Cheese so I guess she earned that elevated status.

[Baz]

When I was 10 I told my mum, in front of her hairdresser, that my mate’s auntie’s husband (this was how my mate worded it to me) was going to fix the strap on my Tasmanian Devil watch. Hairdresser chirps up ‘your friends uncle, then?’

Alright, Tina, chill out.

[Spikey M]

Or an even less mental one is that you call them aunt or uncle until you’re 12 and then wake the fuck up into the real world.

Well, I mean, I don't call any of them Aunt or Uncle these days. The are still my aunts and uncles, but adults don't go around still addressing them as such, surely?

[Manc]

Giggles on point. The rest of you want locking up.

[Ian]

Absolutely no surprise about who's making up Team Weirdo on this one.

[randomlegend]

I'd imagine the correlation between "family friend but wants you to call them uncle" and "paedophile" is close to 1-to-1.

[Ian]

Oh yeah, anybody who's not even related by marriage but tries to instigate that definitely wants their head / browser history looked at.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

My Dad always wanted me to call a neighbour of his "Uncle Ron" but I can't remember ever speaking to him outside of "Hi" whenever he was pottering in his garden. He moved out when I was young anyway.

I also have some aunties/uncles who are technically cousins with the whole removed shit.

[Pepe]

All of my father's friends (and he had a ton) were considered "uncles" when I was growing up.

[Baz]

I once went on a work training course that spanned a few days and there was this black cockney geezer who called me Uncle. :cab:

[Spikey M]

Cockley rhyming slang. Uncle Fester = Child Molester.

[Ben]

I once went on a work training course that spanned a few days and there was this black cockney geezer who called me Uncle. :cab:

In Singapore you call strangers that are older than you aunt/uncle. Like “cheers Uncle” when he drops you off in the taxi.

[Kikó]

I've never called my step dad, dad despite my mum marrying him when I was about 12.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Cockley rhyming slang. Uncle Fester = Child Molester.

He's nailed Baz.

[Cord]

As a child I called them Uncle/Aunt, but as an adult I call them Tel, Gary or Shirley just because it gives me an opportunity to bring out the South London accent I lost with education. Not having that family friend's shit either.

Even as a kid I found it tricky to work out what to do when encountering a Great-uncle or aunt. Best not to talk to them at all.

[randomlegend]

I've always called my aunts and uncles by their names.

[mo]

My nephew calls me 'Sir' :cool:

[Spikey M]

Kinky.

[Baz]

I’ve a similar conundrum but didn’t feel it warranted a thread.

Let’s say you take your daughter to a swimming lesson. You are a man and don’t get in the pool, you literally sit and watch from a viewing balcony. After the lesson you take her to get dry and dressed. Do you go in the mens or ladies changing room?

For me it’s the same rule as if I take her to the toilet while I’m out - I go in the mens.

But at my daughters swimming there’s a woman with a son, and she gets him dressed in the mens changing room. :confused:

She gets away with it but if I swanned into the ladies dressing room with my kid, there’d deffo be whispers about me being weird.

[Spikey M]

100% mens changing room

[Pen]

I think the local swimming hall near me has a sign saying it’s ok to bring your kids if they’re under seven with you to the same changing room even if it’s the wrong one.

Would imagine similar applies that if they’re too young to be expected to get ready on their own, they come with you.

[Manc]

100% mens changing room

Nonce.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Imagine if you were a 13, 15 or 17 year old girl getting changed in peace and Baz walked in. Men's all day long.

[Giggles]

Does he not like even numbers?

[Spikey M]

No, but he does like Children.

[randomlegend]

Definitely the men's.

[Baz]

No, but he does like Children.I bloody don’t. :worried: