For a female who gets married and steps into another family. The brother of her husband is referred to as her “brother-in-law”. Brother-in-law is not someone to whom any female is associated by circumstance of birth. Brothers-in-law can be more than one too, depending on the number of brothers that the lady’s husband has. In the words of Dorothy Kilgallen, “My children have no prejudices at all. My own brother-in-law is Jewish!” This is a secondary relation which a wife builds with the brother of her husband post her marriage. It is not a family tie or bond. Brother-in-law is no kind of blood relation. Similarly, for a male, his wife’s brother is also said to be the brother-in-law of the male. The relations can be implemented either ways. Henny Youngman had remarked, “My other brother-in-law died. He was a karate expert, and then joined the army. The first time he saluted, he killed himself.”
