They say you learn something new every day.
That statement continues to ring true even for those who have left school far behind.
Today we're going to learn how to label our cousins.
Are they a 2nd cousin or a 1st cousin once removed?
A teacher is going viral on TikTok after taking it upon himself to answer the age-old, mind numbing question of what extended family titles really mean.
Many, if not most, people have always gotten tripped up by extended family titles and who our family members actually are in relation to us.
Is your cousin's daughter's husband somehow related to you? And if so, does that make him your cousin-in-law?
But never fear, Kevin Silberman (@silb0017) does know and he's helping de-mystify this age-old question for us all. The ninth-grade social studies teacher took to TikTok to help shed some light on extended family titles and how to properly attribute them to members of your family.
Needless to say, TikTok viewers are both grateful for his explanation and shocked by the new information.
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Initially, Silberman posted a video explaining how cousins work since he noticed people were confusing second cousins with first cousins once removed. But after a commenter asked who their cousin's child is to them, Silberman decided to take it a step further and make a follow-up video.
The 45-second TikTok lesson in genealogy has racked up over 11 million views, 1.3 million likes, and nearly 33,000 comments.
While many people admitted to misunderstanding the 'removed' portion of some family members' titles, others were quick to point out culture impacts the way some people refer to the members of their extended family.
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The viral video begins with Silberman in his classroom standing in front of a whiteboard that appears to depict a family tree.
At the start of the video, Silberman lets out a rather exasperated sigh before getting into the weeds of what it means to have a 'removed' family member. A comment overlayed on the video reads, "What is my cousins child to me?" and "Cousins 101".
Silberman goes on to say, "I had a lot of questions on this TikTok. I'm gonna just go over this one real quick, though," referring to the comment left that asks for clarification of person's relationship to a cousin's child.
Silberman explains:
"Here is me."
"Here's my dad and here's my uncle."
"My uncle's son would be my first cousin."
"My first cousin's son would be my cousin, once removed."
Silberman then cracks the Da Vinci code of genealogy by explaining the term removed means "down by one generation."
At the end of the video, Silberman tells viewers, "I hope this clears things up," and as he walks off frame he jokingly says:
"This is really not why I got into TikTok by the way."
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The devil works hard—as the saying goes—but the teachers of TikTok work harder.
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