https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Timcrallexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-04-20T01:55:59ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2040:_Sibling-in-Law&diff=1621482040: Sibling-in-Law2018-08-31T16:48:57Z<p>Timcrall: Randall's 'also siblings-in-law, I think' category is only correct as to the individual on the right. Your sibling's spouses's sibling is not your sibling-in-law. Also the title text has nothing to do with incest.</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2040<br />
| date = August 31, 2018<br />
| title = Sibling-in-Law<br />
| image = sibling_in_law.png<br />
| titletext = FYI, it turns out "...because I haven't figured out whether he would be my brother-in-law or not" does NOT qualify as a "reason why these two should not be wed."<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT-in-law 6 times removed - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
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This comic shows the complicated way that English refers to {{w|sibling-in-law}} family relationships. As shown in the comic, your sibling's spouse would be called your "sibling-in-law" (either brother-in-law, or sister-in-law). However, your spouse's brother or sister is also called the same way (brother-in-law or sister-in-law). <br />
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The confusion lies with your siblings-in-law's siblings. Randall says they may be "also siblings-in-law, I think?" and further relations are also "possible ''additional'' siblings-in-law". According to Wikipedia, "sibling-in-law is one's spouse's sibling, or one's sibling's spouse, or one's spouse's sibling's spouse"; therefore Randall is correct with the "also siblings-in-law" on the right (his 'spouse's sibling's spouse') but not is incorrect regarding the one on the left (his 'sibling's spouse's sibling' would not generally be considering a sibling-in-law).<br />
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The caption compares "sibling-in-law" to "<X>th cousin <Y> times removed". This family relationship, for example, {{w|Cousin#Basic_definitions|1st cousin once removed}}, is used to describe your 1st cousin's son or daughter or your second cousin's father or mother. The "once removed" indicates that the family relative is one generation above or below yours.<br />
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The title text refers to an audience member at a wedding being unsure whether the marriage would make one of the participants his brother-in-law and objecting to the union on that basis. If Randall's sibling was getting married, the answer would obviously be 'yes'. If Randall's spouse's sibling (who was already Randall's sibling-in-law on that basis) was getting married, the answer would also be 'yes'. In all other cases, the answer would be 'no'.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[A single layer of a family tree is shown.]<br />
:Me<br />
:Sibling<br />
:Spouse<br />
:Siblings-in-law<br />
:Also siblings-in-law, I think?<br />
:Possible ''additional'' siblings-in-law???<br />
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:Caption: People complain that “<X><sup>th</sup> cousin <Y> times removed” is hard to understand, but to me the most confusing one is sibling-in-law, because it chains across both sibling and marriage links and I don't really know where it stops.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}</div>Timcrall