Never heard of that.
Children calling jw adults uncle and auntie, when did that start?
by awakening 26 Replies latest jw friends
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rebel8
tim hooper, that is creepy! In my area in the 70s, it was not socially acceptable to call adults by first names (as you said), so we called them bro and sis. It was an opportunity to "be different from the world" while out in public, like wearing unfashionable fringe as the Israelites did.
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jookbeard
as far as I can remember we were always having to refer to them as uncle and auntie, I never had a problem with it TBH, I like to rib guys at work who jokingly refer to so and so as "your uncle"
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Da.Furious
It is a cultural thing as others have pointed.
In my native tongue we have a special word to address people who are the age of our parents. But there is no translation to this in English so the alternative is Uncle/Auntie. This is done just out of respect and not using the persons first name.
This is done inside and outside of the congregation and it is not something tied to JWs only.
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blondie
In Germany where I grew up we called adult friends of the family, Tante (aunt) Frieda and Onkel (Uncle) Uwe, it was a sign of respect and affection. It sure beats Mr/Mrs/Miss Last Name or Brother/Sister Last Name. I belong to a union and they call each other brother/sister and I just about jump out of my skin when they do it.
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Splash
Same here, we called the older ones Uncle and Auntie.
There was Uncle Tickle-Fingers, Auntie Turnablindeye and Uncle Whoops-Clumsy-Hands
I think they're all in prison now.
Splash
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kaik
I am sure it is not cultural concept, because it was very uncomfortable to call in Eastern Europe someone who is not related by blood as aunt and uncle. If it was used in the common street language as a slang, it always meant elderly citizen in the village. But for urban population this expression was definately no normal. Mr and Mrs were the standard. However, when my parents got involved with the cult in the 1970's we were required to call adults as aunt and uncle.