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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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And you know none of us here would ever go in for any of that, right? It's cereal marriage, or no marriage at all.  
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Rod, I've never researched whether there is any peculiar legal issue underlying the "[fill in the relative]-in-law" designation, but I've always thought that the in-law designation served to distinguish one's relatives by marriage from one's relatives by birth just as a matter of normal social interaction. You biological parents are your parents-in-fact, while your parents by marriage are your parents-in-law.
The same distinction is usually unstated but legally important regarding attorneys-at-law and attorneys-in-fact. A lay person who is specifically granted the power of attorney by his principal is an attorney-in-fact, while one with the authority to represent and act for another by operation of law is an attorney-at-law.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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This discussion of relations brings to mind something interesting which I encounted the other day. Chinese has two different words for "sister-in-law"; one for "wife's older sister" and a different word for "wife's younger sister". Although the article I read didn't say so, I would presume the same applies to brothers-in-law. I am also aware that in a good many languages there are different words for "aunt/uncle on the mother's side" and "aunt/uncle on the father's side" and that there are, even in English, different words for different kinds of cousins. (Cousin-german comes to mind.)
Does this indicate that we English speakers are not as concerned with the niceties of family relationships as other people who need such terms because the intricacies of the family are important? I would imagine that the two different words in Chinese reflect that culture's old-time acknowledgement of rank and position in families as well as in other relationships.
I also have wondered that English has a single term to describe both a person who is your husband's brother and a person who is your sister's husband. I suspect that a number of other cultures have distinct terms for these relationships. I recall reading a piece on the development of small children which noted that Japanese children, who are raised in a culture which places a much greater emphasis on family relationships than does the American culture, are taught the various designations for people at a young age, while American children are learning the names of things.
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member
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I detect 'leaf-envy' here, don't I?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Wordwind: THANK YOU! Holy cow, folks, a question has actually been answered! And it wasn't even in Q & Comments... 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Sparteye commented The same distinction is usually unstated but legally important regarding attorneys-at-law and attorneys-in-fact. A lay person who is specifically granted the power of attorney by his principal is an attorney-in-fact, while one with the authority to represent and act for another by operation of law is an attorney-at-law.Thanks for that. I have often (idly) wondered why the term "attorney-at-law" is used in the US. I haven't seen it used anywhere else. Too lazy to look it up, of course. It makes perfect sense now that you mention it. I have held the power of attorney myself in the past, but never associated it with the other meaning of attorney like that! Ta! 
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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So, if I give an attorney-at-law a power of attorney to perform a specific action for me rather than generally represent me, does that make him or her an attorney-in-fact?
Bingley
Bingley
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Poor Bing, no one ever answered your last question. Any takers?
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