Cheryl: So of 64 sets of 4th great grandparents, the former Senator Dole shares at least one set with you? Is that close enough to be called a "kissing cousin", assuming it is not an election year in which he is running, you are not a tot or comely young lady, or you live in the deep south?

He isn't running. I am not a tot or comely or young or always a lady. I do, however, live south [and east] of the deep south...[as you know]. On 8/11/07, George & Shiela Irwin <irwin.gs@verizon.net> wrote: > > Cheryl: > > So of 64 sets of 4th great grandparents, the former Senator Dole shares at > least one set with you? > > Is that close enough to be called a "kissing cousin", assuming it is not > an > election year in which he is running, you are not a tot or comely young > lady, or you live in the deep south? >

"George & Shiela Irwin" <irwin.gs@verizon.net> wrote: > Is that close enough to be called a "kissing cousin", assuming it is not > an > election year in which he is running, you are not a tot or comely young > lady, or you live in the deep south? I always have to ask this question, because the definition of "kissing cousin" widely varies. What would you consider to be a "kissing cousin." Apparently it depends on where you grew up. Some places, particularly the American South, a "kissing cousin" is one so closely related that you always greet him/her with a big "buss." Elsewhere, a kissing cousin is one who is so distantly related that there are no taboos against dating him/her. Which is yours? Richard P. Fairfax, VA

>Elsewhere, a kissing cousin is one who is so distantly related that there are no taboos against dating him/her< Where I was raised in Central Illinois, I used to think that it was someone you knew to be related somehow, but it was distant enough that you did not know exactly how! That probably fits into the above. But then our family was more outwardly reserved, not of the kissing type except among a few of the older women! So few would have met your first definition. >From my genealogy of both German and Scotch Irish family ancestors, I have found several second cousin and a few first cousin marriages. So I guess that is another possible definition of the term -- cousins who married each other.

"George & Shiela Irwin" <irwin.gs@verizon.net> wrote: > Where I was raised in Central Illinois, I used to think that it was > someone > you knew to be related somehow, but it was distant enough that you did not > know exactly how! That probably fits into the above. That's one of the definitions of "shirttail relations." But my Mom told me it was relatives or relatives - people that you really weren't related to at all. Example: I had cousins whom I was related to on their father's side and they also had cousins on their mother's side. My cousin's cousins - shirttail relations to whom I really wasn't related. > But then our family was more outwardly reserved, not of the kissing type > except among a few of the older women! So few would have met your first > definition. I don't think I've ever exactly seen it expressed that way, but - yes - "kissing cousins" where I came from (South Dakota) were more distantly related than first cousins. There was a taboo (if not a law in some places) against first-cousin marriages, but second cousins could court or marry. Richard P.