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I saw an example this weekend of someone posting about Find a Grave, and they abbreviated it to F A G. Several others thought the person was making a homophobic slur! I had to jump in and point our that for those of us who do ancestry research all the time, the first thing we thing when we see "F A G" is Find a Grave.
Then I started thinking, we need a list of "things only Genealogy people will understand."
I'll start, but please add in your own (this is a fun thread).
1. When we type F A G, it's not a homophobic slur.
2. Feeling sorry for people who can't even name their great-grandparents.
3. How even the thought of the 1890 census raises our blood pressure.
4. Talking about a person who lived 200 years ago by name, as if we know him/her.
5. Wondering why there aren't more kids these days named Nehemiah, Rejoice, Meribah, or Clemency.
Saying, "Hi, cuz" to someone you have never even met who is your 5th cousin.
All this talk of Brick Walls has nothing to do with buildings.
Getting totally frustrated with ancestors who insisted upon using a common name like John generation after generation after generation.
Understanding how to classify cousins by degree and generations removed.
Yes-- and when you get odd looks when you talk about your "half third cousin once removed", and for a second sort of expecting them to know what the heck you're talking about, and then catching yourself.
How about: When you know more about your dead relatives than your living ones. And maybe care more about them too.
Thinking who your distant ancestors were and that it genuinely matters in your life. I think that's one of the biggest differences when I talk with someone whose into genealogy and isn't. For example when I share some of the stories I learn with my mom over the phone she is mildly interested, but almost always comes back to it doesn't really matter in our lives. I try to convey my perspective, that many things in our lives that are very important really don't *have* to be... anything belief based, self identify based, things we are proud or disappointed with, honestly most things that we determine make us happy or sad. They are all things we choose to assign value to but most don't necessarily have intrinsic value associated with them. It's the same with ancestry, when you learn it, especially as you learn more intimate details about the people, the places, or the cultures it really impacts you far more than you probably thought it would.
Plus we wouldn't exist if they didn't exist and did what they did, so all those factors are as much a part of our DNA as the actual bits of DNA we inherit from them (which it's important to remember that though we don't have DNA from all our ancestors, it's more-so we don't currently know how to evaluate those super small segments accurately, certainly many of the tiniest bits and signatures of DNA came from many of our ancestors all around, we just can't confidently assign them currently).
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