What is the correct phrase for the relationship between me and my son's father/mother in law?
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Not English (but many English speakers use it), there is a Yiddish word, machatonim that means the inlaws of your child. – bib Dec 16 '14 at 19:07
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I doubt that there is one. See Paucity of words for relationships and Is there an accepted rule for naming all of our various distant relatives? – choster Dec 16 '14 at 19:09
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Apologies, @bib, but I would tend to think that the only English speakers who use it are Yiddish speakers or cultural Jews. Although I, who am neither, nevertheless use certain Yiddish words and phrases that have leaked into common use. And as a German-speaker I can understand Yiddish better than most other English-speakers. So maybe we should adopt machatonim! I'd vote for it! – Cyberherbalist Dec 16 '14 at 19:14
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hostility? amity? indifference? – Oldcat Dec 16 '14 at 19:36
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@Oldcat? What on earth are you talking about? – Cyberherbalist Dec 16 '14 at 20:10
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since you have no relation to your son's father in law by blood or marriage, then the definition of "emotional connection" presumably applies. So I suggested some possible emotional connections. – Oldcat Dec 16 '14 at 20:18
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@Cyberherbalist If we do, then we get into the arguments about the various transliterations to English spelling. – bib Dec 16 '14 at 21:27
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@bib - See? The fun is neverending! – Cyberherbalist Dec 16 '14 at 23:35
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Spanish has consuegros. I have seen this question before, and always suggest we adopt cross-laws. (Machatonim enters Yiddish from Hebrew: chatan is the word for groom.) – Andrew Lazarus Dec 17 '14 at 08:32
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It's in your question.
There is no special term in English for a person's child's parents-in-law.
They are your son's parents-in-law.
Now, this is not to say that English wouldn't be enriched to have such a term, but it doesn't and there we are. It also doesn't have terms to distinguish between the flavors of aunts and uncles, and a few others that do exist in other languages.
Cyberherbalist
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I'm not sure which aunt/uncle flavors you're referring to but we do have great aunts, etc. – Dennis Williamson Dec 16 '14 at 19:44
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@DennisWilliamson I think Cyberherbalist is referring to the difference between "blood" aunts/uncles (parents' siblings) and "marriage" aunts/uncles (parents' siblings' spouses). – starsplusplus Dec 16 '14 at 19:50
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1Yes, exactly, @starsplusplus. In Swedish, there are also distinctions between one's mother's and father's brothers: marbror and farbror. Both would be biological, of course. – Cyberherbalist Dec 16 '14 at 20:08
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Latin distinguishes "avunculus" from "patruua".material versus paternal uncle, and likewise, for aunts, "matertera" and "abita". – Green Grasso Holm Apr 14 '18 at 13:25
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And then Chinese distinguishes older sister from younger sister, older brother from younger brother. – Green Grasso Holm Apr 14 '18 at 13:25
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I hadn't realized when we had daughters, that I would also be gifted with sons when they married. My affection for their parents is beyond the tepid description "my son-in-laws parents". "Affinity sister/brother" is a much better term, as connected by choice albeit our children's choice. so...this holiday season I plan to introduce Kay as "my affinity sister who is Dave's (my son-in-law's) mother".
n. dower
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Ps I knew they would marry men but never realized how much a part of our family they would become, and bring delightful family with them. – n. dower Dec 25 '15 at 09:14