Some languages pay closer attention to family ties than others
Spanish, for example, has a term for your spouse’s sibling’s husband
“Merry christmas from the Family”, a country song by Robert Earl Keen released in 1994, tells the tale of a sprawling festive get-together, replete with champagne punch, carol-singing and turkey. Many listeners will recognise the chaos the narrator describes; even more than that, they may identify with his struggle to recall how he is related to the various guests. “Fred and Rita drove from Harlingen,” Mr Keen croons. “Can’t remember how I’m kin to them.”
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Family matters”
Culture June 4th 2022
- ABBA and the rise of the work-from-home rock star
- The problems with complex supply chains
- “Nightcrawling” is a gritty, accomplished debut novel
- Arthur Russell was an indecisive, brilliant composer
- The story of three 19th-century dissidents sent into exile
- Some languages pay closer attention to family ties than others
From the June 4th 2022 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Culture
Sex, drugs or chastity?
Pope Francis has written the first memoir by a sitting pope. God help us
Backpacks are, surprisingly, in vogue
They are following in sneakers’ path and becoming more fashionable
Spotify’s playlists have altered the music industry in unexpected ways
A critical assessment of the Swedish streaming giant’s musical legacy
Henri Bergson was once the world’s most famous philosopher
He sought to reconcile science and metaphysics
Witty and wise, “A Real Pain” is a masterpiece in a minor key
Jesse Eisenberg’s deceptively slight film asks big moral questions
Now it’s all about TikTok. But Huawei led the way
The Chinese telecoms firm was the first to raise America’s hackles