Removing distant cousins, however long their fingers

From Aug. 3, 2004:

Someone has asked me why it is that with women the index finger is usually longer than the ring finger and with men it’s the other way around.

I have done an extensive survey of my colleagues’ hands, and this seems to be true, though not in every single case.

However, why this is so is beyond me. It might have something to do with how much testosterone and estrogen you get in the womb. Or not. I don’t know.

So we’re just going to check that one off the list and take a whack at this:

How does one use the terms such as “second cousin or first cousin once removed?” How is my adult nephew related to my daughter’s daughters? He would be, of course, my daughter’s cousin.

OK, this one gets a little confusing. At least it was a little confusing to me, although not as confusing as my sprinkling system, which seems to be in a snit about something and has taken to watering the lawn or not watering the lawn pretty much on its own whim. Here goes:

Your first cousins are the children of your aunts and uncles, and they have two of the same grandparents as you do.

That was easy. Your second cousins have the same great-grandparents as you, but not the same grandparents. Third cousins have the same greatgreat-grandparents, and so on.

As for the “removed” part, that’s a generational thing. You and your first cousins are all of the same generation so you’re not removed, although after a big family get-together you may feel like removing some of them.

You get to be removed when there is a difference in generations. For instance, my father’s first cousin Leroy was my first cousin, once removed. He was a great guy, always full of fun. Once he made my girls an extremely cool rubberband gun that shot pingpong balls.

Your grandmother’s first cousins are two generations away from you so they would be your first cousins, twice removed. I wouldn’t bother sending them a Christmas card, but that’s up to you.