密歇根新闻广播 英语中有哪些拗口的亲戚称呼

When we talk about our relatives, there are plenty of gender-neutral terms to cover the bases.

We use "grandparents" to talk about both our grandmothers and grandfathers; "parents" takes care of mothers and fathers; "siblings²" refers to both brothers and sisters; and a "cousin" can be either male or female.

But what about nieces and nephews?

There's good news for aunts and uncles who crave³ a word to speak collectively about the kids they love to spoil.

Meet "nibling."

This gender-neutral term is a blend of "niece/nephew" and "sibling¹." In other words, niblings are your siblings' children.

Unfortunately, nibling doesn't appear in most standard dictionaries. But that's not for lack of trying.

In 2004, a group of schoolchildren in England campaigned to get the little-known word added to the Oxford⁴ English Dictionary. Clearly, they weren't successful, but their efforts give us hope.

With or without dictionary approval, nibling is just too darn cute to give up. If we say nibling and use it, that counts as a word, right? We think so.

Nieces and nephews aren't the only relatives without an official gender-neutral term. Don't aunts and uncles deserve something too?

1 sibling   

n.同胞手足(指兄、弟、姐或妹)

参考例句：

• Many of us hate living in the shadows of a more successful sibling.我们很多人都讨厌活在更为成功的手足的阴影下。
• Sibling ravalry has been common in this family.这个家里，兄弟姊妹之间的矛盾很平常。

2 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

3 crave   

vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求

参考例句：

• Many young children crave attention.许多小孩子渴望得到关心。
• You may be craving for some fresh air.你可能很想呼吸呼吸新鲜空气。

4 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。