Re: Personal Conjugation based on Closeness

Emaelivpeith Tristan McLeay:
>Unless usage differs outside of Australia, it's actually 'aunts and
>uncles' (like 'black and white', 'husband and wife', 'mum and dad', 'fish
>and chips', or 'knife and fork').
Silly Aussies with their backwards "knife and fork" phrase.  ;)

My sisters, who are fraternal twins, have a very set order to their names
when said together.  Saying their names in reverse sounds _very_ wrong to
my ears.  My two cousins (siblings of each other) also have a set order --
eldest first, same as with my sisters.  And while I agree that the order is
"aunts and uncles," if you're talking about a specific couple then it's the
reverse, as in "Uncle Mike and Aunty Diane".  Reversing this sounds wrong.

Interesting how certain phrases can become so set.


--
AA of AmE

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