Good Question
March 9th, 2007 |The Phoenix asks it:
I’m missing my Brothers wifes birthday. I don’t really like the way that sounds. What is the correct term for her?
According to Wikipedia, the correct term for your brother’s wife is “sister-in-law.”
I, however, believe that is total bullshit. There is no way that your brother should ever marry his sister, so how in the hell could she ever be your sister-in-law? Think about it. It doesn’t make sense, does it?
In my opinion, the only time the term sister-in-law should ever be applied is towards your own wife or husband’s sister. You married him/her, they have a sister, ergo “sister-in-law.”
Apply the same rule to your brother’s wife: He married her, she is his wife, ergo “sister-in-law”? Welcome to Arkansas Cleatus!
No, in the case of your brother’s wife, the term used should be “wife-in-law.”
I will acknowledge that wife-in-law sounds kind of awkward, especially if you are a woman referring to your brother’s wife. But, technical terms are not supposed to make everyone feel all warm and fuzzy like. Besides, how warm and fuzzy would it be for your brother to marry his sister? That’s sick-o and you are sick-o for thinking about it.
If you really object to using the term wife-in-law then you could get away with shortening it down to “in-law” or changing it to “damn in-law”, what ever works for you.
