Several web sites list concepts for which we have no words in English.   Those who speak more than one language often say, “There’s no word in Spanish for that English word.” For example, the Hebrew word “chesed” poses considerable difficulties when translating it into English. The King James Version of the Bible uses ten different English terms. Chesed means a benevolent intent toward another person that refuses to give up or be swayed by emotion.   The widely used English word “love” seems to fall short of that meaning so we get “steadfast love” or “mercy” or stop to explain what we have no word to express.

Since both of our sons recently married, we now have “family” for which we have no word. I’m referring to the parents of our daughters-in-law. They are the “in-laws” of our sons, but we must define who we mean each time we talk about them. So I say, “My son’s wife’s parents have one of those.…”

Last week my friend Creg Hughes solved the problem with the proposal that I call my “son’s wife’s parents” our “counterparts.” When I heard that term, I thought, “Yes, that’s perfect.”

Our counterparts of our oldest son live in Georgia. Our counterparts of our younger son live in Oklahoma. My counterpart from Georgia works in the electrical field.   Sally’s counterpart in Oklahoma is a computer whiz.   I like it.

So I hereby move that we English speaking people adopt the term “counterpart” to refer to the parents of the person our child marries. Do I hear a second?