One of the problems associated with most serious subjects is that the individuals engaged in its study construct a special vocabulary and set of procedures to describe what they are doing. This has some advantages among specialists in that they understand one another's activities. However it does create a problem for newcomers who are trying to penetrate the thicket surrounding the speciality and who probably think that it is a barrier constructed by practitioners in order to keep the natives out. The difficulty in genealogy is compounded by practitioners in different countries circling the wagons in entirely different ways. Those of us engaged in a search for Irish ancestors are steeped in procedures involving names, dates, religions and locality (townland, civil and religious parishes, baronies etc). Am I alone in thinking that the occasional email from across the pond reads not just like a communication from another country but a message from another planet. I refer in particular to the recent contribution by Jim Denning which is repeated below. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx Mary Jane RILEY 3 Feb 1883@Woburn,MA.rs@Woburn,MA.1883- dau of PatrickRILEY@irelandrs@Woburn,MA.currier,1883-& EllenMCHUGH@ireland-rs@Woburn,MA.1883- -------------------------------------------------- ThomasGARVIN1845-Donegal Ireland-rs@Woburn,MA.Currier1881-rs@ Woburn ,Ma.currier1883- Son of ThomasGARVIN Donegal Ireland & Catherine Donegal Ireland wed11 Aug 1871WOBURN MA.1ST BOTH,-REV JOHN ZUCIE? UNCLEAR BridgetMCHUGH1852abt@Donegal Ireland-rs@Woburn,Ma.1883-rs@Woburn, Ma.,1881- dau of CharlesMCHUGH Chelsea,Ma.-Woburn,Ma.-denning-dennen-danin-dinan-dinihey-denningston-dinnin g- carlon-carroll-dever-cogan-malone-heslin-piscopo-mazzola-martini-farrell-mch ug h-farley-grimes-lynch-doherty-SanDanto,Ita-Adargh,longford-Revere,Ma-Wintrop ,M a.-sprague- and ever growing list Jim Denning xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx There is no doubt that Jim Denning is a very knowledgeable and accomplished genealogist, he being the list owner of no less than 6 lists. But has the USA terminology diverged so far from that familiar to me, and perhaps other Irish practitioners, that we now need someone to act as an official translator. The US of A and the UK have been described as two nations separated by a common language - Is there anyone out there, perhaps residing in the glorious Berkshire hills of Western Massachusetts, who could transpose the above from USA-speak to UK-speak. Liam "A bird in the bush is worth two in the Cat"