my in-laws
my husband's (or wife's) family
TRANSLATION
in-laws = die angeheiratete Verwandtschaft, die Schwiegereltern --- GOOGLE INDEX in-laws: approximately 7,000,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
IN-LAWS can be a tremendous source of support and closeness. They can also be a major problem in your marital relationship.
(www.marriage.about.com)
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According to the survey, 24 percent expect their parents or IN-LAWS to move in with them. Half of those say they would welcome the addition to their households.
(www.msnbc.com)
(www.marriage.about.com)
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According to the survey, 24 percent expect their parents or IN-LAWS to move in with them. Half of those say they would welcome the addition to their households.
(www.msnbc.com)
Did you
know?
in-laws
noun
- the parents of your husband or wife and other members of their family
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary © Cambridge University Press 2009)
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WORD ORIGIN
In-laws is the general term for the relatives of one's spouse. Although it includes sisters and brothers, it is often used in the context of the spouse's parents. In-law is a back formation from compound nouns such as father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law and mother-in-law.
Mark Twain once said, "Adam was the luckiest man; he had no mother-in-law." It would be hard to find a better way of summarizing the often unfair reputation of in-laws. And more often than not, it's the mother-in-law that is the object of this ridicule, not the father-in-law. The stereotype is the woman who constantly interferes in the affairs of her son's or daughter's own family and finds fault with everything they do or say.
A vivid illustration of this reputation can be seen in the West African plant commonly known as mother-in-law's tongue: it is spiky, hard to kill off and poisonous if eaten. There is even a medical condition - pentheraphobia - for those who have an abnormal and persistent fear of their mother-in-law.
Although many people admire and love their mother-in-law, the sheer number of mother-in-law jokes is evidence that enough people don't necessarily share this view:
A woman wakes her husband in the middle of the night and says "There is a burglar downstairs in the kitchen and he is eating the cake that my mother made for us."
The husband replies, "Who shall I call, the police or an ambulance?"
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SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"We are taking our in-laws with us on holiday this year."
noun
- the parents of your husband or wife and other members of their family
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary © Cambridge University Press 2009)
---
WORD ORIGIN
In-laws is the general term for the relatives of one's spouse. Although it includes sisters and brothers, it is often used in the context of the spouse's parents. In-law is a back formation from compound nouns such as father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law and mother-in-law.
Mark Twain once said, "Adam was the luckiest man; he had no mother-in-law." It would be hard to find a better way of summarizing the often unfair reputation of in-laws. And more often than not, it's the mother-in-law that is the object of this ridicule, not the father-in-law. The stereotype is the woman who constantly interferes in the affairs of her son's or daughter's own family and finds fault with everything they do or say.
A vivid illustration of this reputation can be seen in the West African plant commonly known as mother-in-law's tongue: it is spiky, hard to kill off and poisonous if eaten. There is even a medical condition - pentheraphobia - for those who have an abnormal and persistent fear of their mother-in-law.
Although many people admire and love their mother-in-law, the sheer number of mother-in-law jokes is evidence that enough people don't necessarily share this view:
A woman wakes her husband in the middle of the night and says "There is a burglar downstairs in the kitchen and he is eating the cake that my mother made for us."
The husband replies, "Who shall I call, the police or an ambulance?"
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"We are taking our in-laws with us on holiday this year."
