S/o Nibling

[Teaching3bears]

Am I the only one who had never heard this word before for niece or nephew? I do live under a rock so that might be why. Are there any other new words I need to learn or ideas etc.?

[Dmmetler]

I’ve never heard it, either, and would have assumed it was a pet name, not a more generic term. 

[Lecka]

Niebling.  Yes, since I was a child.  No idea.  

Edit:  I would hear it as a way to address a niece and nephew at the same time, my cousin and I were “nieblings.”  

Like, “come eat, nieblings.”  

Edited October 27, 2018 by Lecka

[Pawz4me]

I'm right there under the rock with you.

I'm really confused about a lot of the sexual/gender identity stuff. I'm a very live and let live person, so I'm certainly not bothered or offended by much of anything. But not knowing or understanding the language makes it really hard to discuss due to fear of unintentionally offending. And yes, I try to read/research, but this is one of those topics where I always seem to get more confused rather than enlightened. 

[bolt.]

I’ve seen it half a dozen times recently.

[Lecka]

It’s just affectionate to me.  Like my sisters and I were “the girls.”  My cousin and I were “nieblings.”  

I haven’t heard it in years, though.   My son is too much younger than my nieces to call them nieblings..... or that is what I think off the top of my head.  

It was just a special thing for my cousin and I, not my older sisters.  

[gardenmom5]

never heard it - and I do genealogy.

[maize]

I've never heard it.

[Farrar]

I've heard it, but it definitely has not permeated to the point that I think it's anywhere near taking over or where I'm surprised anyone hasn't.

I think it's a cute word, just apart from any gender issues. I'm not sure if it'll ever become completely in vogue... I can easily see it going either way, honestly. I mean, thirty years ago, people didn't think that a lot of other genderless terms for people would catch on - like "firefighter" or "mail carrier." They were convinced we'd stick with "fireman" and "mailman" and now I hear both routinely and the less gendered terms are more in use, especially in absolutely everything official (using one term is so much simpler). So... I could see it happening, though I don't know that it will.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I had never heard the word before yesterday, so I looked it up.  Apparently, the word niblings was coined in 1951 as a way to address multiple nieces/nephews, sort of a conflation of the words sibling, niece, and nephew.  It had nothing to do with gender identity at the time.  I like it.  I'll probably use it for all my nieces and nephews, regardless of their genders, or lack thereof.

[Lecka]

Long e.  I would assume it was spelled niebling.  Nibling does not look right to me.  

 

[maize]

21 minutes ago, Lecka said:

Long e.  I would assume it was spelled niebling.  Nibling does not look right to me.  

 

Like the German endearment "liebling"--that would make more sense.

I was thinking it was modeled on "sibling".

[Innisfree]

3 hours ago, Dotwithaperiod said:

Do is it pronounced with a short i or more of a long E? I thought it was spelled niebling, which reminds me of liebling, which means darling. I think it’s sweet. Nib-ling, not so much.

I had not heard it before the gender thread, but this was the association I made. I thought maybe it was formed by analogy with liebling. To me, that sounds like a nice sort of pet name for beloved young relatives.

[J-rap]

I've never heard of it.  I don't think it's a term that'll catch on.

[happi duck]

I've never heard it.

I know someone who says "niephews" (knee-fews).  I like that one.

[Lady Florida.]

I've never heard of it. I have nieces and nephews as well as grand nieces and grand nephews. It's never come up in my family or my social circle.

[Bluegoat]

I've heard it, but I can't remember the context, or where.  It wasn't recently.

I've seen it written more recently, a few times.  Not a lot though.

[kiwik]

No but then niece and nephew aren't words used that often in our family.  I certainly wouldn't call someone niece any more than I would call one of my sons son or my father father.  Many people do though.

[katilac]

4 hours ago, Lecka said:

Long e.  I would assume it was spelled niebling.  Nibling does not look right to me.  

 

 

Nope. I read it with a short i, and I think it's permanently stuck in my mind that way. 

[SKL]

I've only seen it here in the past week.  I agree it sounds like a morsel of food.  Like halfway between nibble and chitlin.

 

[Lecka]

I don’t think I was ever called “niebling” by myself.  I know one uncle used to call me “niece,” sometimes.

My grandparents called each other “mother” and “daddy” and called my mom and aunt “sister” as long as they lived.  

I think only my aunt and uncle said “nieblings,” and once in a while we would be called “cousins” in the same way.  I think only when being called in to eat, though.  My cousin and I used to sit at a little table in the kitchen for family gatherings, and always be served first for the meal and for dessert, and then we would be called first for baths.  

I do think the “nibling” spelling seems odd.  I have never seen it spelled, but it sounds like it would be “ie” and then also — “niece” has “ie,” so it makes sense that way, too.  I guess I will have to adapt ?

Edited October 27, 2018 by Lecka

[rebcoola]

I'm under the rock to.

[katilac]

4 hours ago, SKL said:

I've only seen it here in the past week.  I agree it sounds like a morsel of food.  Like halfway between nibble and chitlin.

 

 

Now you're making me want to call my niblings chitlins instead. 

[maize]

4 hours ago, StellaM said:

I don't know. I think it's a bit sad to lose words which have sex specific meanings.

Sibling, child, nibling, parent...instead of sister/brother, daughter/son, nephew/niece, mother/father. 

I feel, for example, that 'sibling' doesn't really convey the relationship I have with my sister, whereas 'sister' has so many more connotations and resonances that really reflect the relationship.

There's less attached to niece and nephew - though I don't have a niece so I can't say if there'd be any difference - but to me the gender neutral words feel bland and lacking in emotional resonance. Or in the case of nibling, cute but ultimately kind of babyish ?

Cultures vary so much in which relationships get specified by labels. Grandmother in English doesn't differentiate between maternal and paternal but many languages do. Cousin doesn't tell us either gender or paternal/maternal but some languages can express either or both of those or even specify father's brother's son vs. father's sister's son.

I don't know of any language that doesn't differentiate between brother and sister though. I like having sibling as an option (I've got nine siblings and it's useful to have a group word) but I definitely wouldn't want to give up brother and sister. 

Hm. Things to think on...

Edited October 28, 2018 by maize

[Bluegoat]

20 minutes ago, maize said:

Cultures vary so much in which relationships get specified by labels. Grandmother in English doesn't differentiate between maternal and paternal but many languages do. Cousin doesn't tell us either gender or paternal/maternal but some languages can express either or both of those or even specify father's brother's son vs. father's sister's son.

I don't know of any language that doesn't differentiate between brother and sister though. I like having sibling as an option (I've got nine siblings and it's useful to have a group word) but I definitely wouldn't want to give up brother and sister. 

Hm. Things to think on...

 

I've always liked the idea of a variation in the word "cousin" that differentiates first cousins from all the others.  In my experience and my observation has been that people tend to have closer relationships to first cousins, and the genetic relationship s really a lot closer too I think.  I visited some cousins this summer when I went away, and I'd tell people this and they'd tend to assume they were close relatives - they were actually second cousins once removed, and had to map out the relationship to figure it out.

[Shoeless]

2 hours ago, katilac said:

 

Now you're making me want to call my niblings chitlins instead. 

 

My sister and my cousin both have babies about the same age.  For awhile I called them "Niblets", because the babies were so sweet and little! 

[maize]

1 hour ago, Bluegoat said:

 

I've always liked the idea of a variation in the word "cousin" that differentiates first cousins from all the others.  In my experience and my observation has been that people tend to have closer relationships to first cousins, and the genetic relationship s really a lot closer too I think.  I visited some cousins this summer when I went away, and I'd tell people this and they'd tend to assume they were close relatives - they were actually second cousins once removed, and had to map out the relationship to figure it out.

We need to bring back the word "kin"

 "I visited my kin on the other side of the country this summer" ?

[catz]

Nibling, no.   But nieblng I’ve heard a number of times over many years in many contexts.   

[Guest]

I never heard it until Janie Grace’s thread. Even then, I thought she was just facetiously coming up with a word to describe the situation. I didn’t realize it was a word in use in some groups until a little layer in the thread. 

All the terms relating to gender I heard here first. 

[wintermom]

I thought this would be a food related thread. Nibling is snacking, no? Maybe it's spelled nibbling. How do you pronounce nibling/niebling?

Edited October 28, 2018 by wintermom

[MEmama]

I've  never heard the term, nor any of the terms used on the original post. My public schooled teen had no idea what I was talking about when I asked him about the gender discussion; he literally had no idea. I guess we are both under rocks, idk.

 

[nixpix5]

I work with kids, teens and families for a living in one of the most liberal states in the nation and I have never heard this before. 

[scholastica]

15 hours ago, katilac said:

 

Now you're making me want to call my niblings chitlins instead. 

My mom would sometimes call us chitlins as a substitute for children. She meant it in an endearing sort of way. 

[katilac]

3 hours ago, scholastica said:

My mom would sometimes call us chitlins as a substitute for children. She meant it in an endearing sort of way. 

 

Of course she did, chitlins are delicious! 

[goldberry]

Never heard it.  It's a cute word though.

 

[scholastica]

26 minutes ago, katilac said:

 

Of course she did, chitlins are delicious! 

Wouldn't know. Never had 'em and we were in NY. I have no idea where she got it.

[SKL]

6 hours ago, scholastica said:

My mom would sometimes call us chitlins as a substitute for children. She meant it in an endearing sort of way. 

I call mine chilblains.

[nixpix5]

23 hours ago, scholastica said:

My mom would sometimes call us chitlins as a substitute for children. She meant it in an endearing sort of way. 

I often said "churens/chur'ns" with my oldest when they were little after reading Breakfast at Tiffany's and finding it a hilarious work. My younger ones are often lovingly referred to as little monkeys.