我们都知道在汉语中，对不同的亲属称谓不同，不但有父系和母系的区别，还有南北地域差异。相比之下，很多人觉得英语中的亲戚关系就简单多了，不管叔叔舅舅姑父姨夫，都是uncle，不管祖父祖母外公外婆，都是grandparent。

但你知道third cousin，second cousin once removed是什么吗？下面我们就来认识一下这些英语中的“远房亲戚”。

Let's start with the first generally well-known circle beyond the nuclear family of parents and siblings: parents of your parents are your grandparents; children of your siblings are nieces and nephews; siblings of your parents are aunts and uncles; children of your aunts and uncles are first cousins.
让我们先从众所周知的核心家庭圈，也就是父母和兄弟姐妹开始：你父母的父母是你的grandparents（祖父母）；你兄弟姐妹的子女是你的nieces和nephews（侄女侄子、外甥/外甥女）；你父母的兄弟姐妹是你的aunts和uncles（阿姨/姑姑、叔伯/舅舅）；你的阿姨/姑姑或叔伯/舅舅的子女是你的first cousins（堂/表兄弟姐妹）。

All that's pretty familiar territory.
这些都是大家非常熟悉的亲戚。

Taking a peek next at the most direct line of the generations that precede us, we have greats and grands: your grandparents' parents are your great-grandparents; their parents are your great-great-grandparents, and so on. And just as your parents' siblings are aunts and uncles, so are your grandparents' siblings great-aunts (or grandaunts) and great-uncles (or granduncles), and your great-grandparents' siblings great-great-aunts and great-great-uncles, and so on.
接下来，再来看看我们祖辈和曾祖辈的直系亲属：你祖父母的父母是你的great-grandparents（曾祖父母）；他们的父母是你的great-great-grandparents（高祖父母）等等。你父母的兄弟姐妹是你的aunts和uncles，所以你祖父母的兄弟姐妹就是great-aunts或grandaunts和great-uncles或granduncles，而你高祖父母的兄弟姐妹是great-great-aunts和great-great-uncles等等。

以上亲属的英文称呼我们都比较熟悉，但是从cousin开始，你可能就要被绕糊涂了。

First cousins

Your first cousins are the people in your family who have two of the same grandparents as you. In other words, they are the children of your aunts and uncles.
你的first cousins（一代表亲）是家族中和你有同样的（外）祖父母的人。换句话说，他们是你父母的亲兄弟亲姐妹的孩子。
Second Cousins

Your second cousins are the people in your family who have the same great-grandparents as you, but not the same grandparents.
你的second cousins是家族中和你有同样的曾（外）祖父母的人。也就是说，你们的（外）祖父母是亲生的兄弟姐妹。
以此类推，还有third, fourth, and fifth cousins……。

还有一种cousins，叫first cousins once removed，“隔了一代的第一代表亲”又是什么意思呢？

First cousins once removed

The degree of a cousin (first, second, third, etc.) doesn't change between generations, but the word removed is used to signal a different generation. Your first cousin —let's say it's Sue— is also a first cousin to your own child, but is removed by a generation, making Sue your child's first cousin once removed.
表亲关系不管是一代、二代还是三代的，都不因为辈分变化而变化，而removed这个单词是用来表示两人不属于同一辈的情况。假设苏是你的第一代表亲，那么她也是你孩子的第一代表亲，但是这中间差了一辈，因此苏就是你孩子的first cousin once removed。

Removed表示两个人不是一代人。你和你的first cousin是一代人，所以你们之间不能说removed。而你的first cousin和你的子女不是一代人，两个人之间差一个辈分就是once removed，如果差两个辈分就是first cousin twice removed。

如果你明白了以上的规律，那么就不难理解second cousin once removed的意思。