Talk:stepson
In this and many other definitions there is a tendency in many dictionaries to use one's in a way which is not really correct. The definition before I changed it was:
- The son of one's spouse from ...
This is correct if speaking of my stepson, but not if it's someone else's stepson. More correct, but more cumbersome:
- A person's stepson is the son of his or her spouse from...
[anonymous comment left 19 December 2004]
I don't see a big difference between that and:
- One's stepson is the son of one's spouse...
And so, more succinctly:
- The son of one's spouse...
The pronoun one doesn't necessarily mean you. - dcljr 07:47, 14 November 2005 (UTC)
Current or former spouse[edit]
There are two distinct usages of stepson. In one the relationship ends with the relationship of the spouse. In the other the relationship continues. Trying to accurately define this second usage of the word seems very tricky to get right.
For example if Jane has a son named Bob, with here first husband Fred. Then Jane divorces Fred and marries Edward. Bob is now Edward's stepson by the first usage of the word stepson. Jane then divorces Edward and marries John. Bob is still a stepson of Edward by the second usage of the word stepson. However, if Jane and John have a son Timothy, Timothy would not be a stepson of Edward by any conventional usage of the word stepson.