To those justifying the use of such words, just know that what is wrong is not right except it is universally accepted to be. Cousin brother/sister is wrong and it is wrong in every sense.

I grew up knowing "cousin", how on Earth the word "brother/sister" found its way to pair with cousin still baffles me.

I can still remember the first time I heard someone use the world, I thought he did it unintentional but he repeated it again, again and again. When I couldn't take it anymore, I tried correcting this guy but I discovered he had a fix mindset; he believed what he knows can never be wrong. At that point, I had to leave him to his foolly.

This is very common in rivers state.

Bigfish121:
This is very common in rivers state.

and Delta

alphaNomega:
I am posting here because it is used a lot in this section (including Family section) and I'm tempted to blame the poor quality of education in Nigeria. We have the internet today and the people who use this "abomination" every time have access to the right information?

It is double shame when the moderators move the topics to front-page and still including "cousin sister/brother" in the title. Scroll through front-page history to see what I'm talking about. I won't make any screenshots.

Maybe that's what English teachers are telling these kids in school these days. Who knows?

If I happen to be an examiner and my candidate makes this blunder, I will stop the exam immediately and correct them before the exam resumes.

For the "English is not our mother tongue" army, it is better you write everything you want to say in your mother tongue, than speak foul language and call it English.

na waiting make I like french,male cousin,female cousine

Penguin2:


Mr grammarian…

First of, your English is poorly constructed for someone who wants to lend his voice to how Nigerians should speak English properly.

Second, the word ‘cousin’ is neither masculine nor feminine and there are no articles that make them so.

So, Nigerians who add ‘sis’ and ‘bro’ after cousin are actually helping you understand better with absolute clarity.

Another of your problem is that you seem to be a structuralist and not a deconstructionist who would think beyond what he was taught and make his own additions to subjects and concepts and theories.

The English language is not a dead language; it keeps evolving.

Same with every discipline of scholarship.

The syntaxes and semantics of the English lexicon are not cast in stone. They keep dropping and picking up new stuff.

Who says ‘cousin sister’ and ‘cousin brother’ will not one day be added as proper English expression?

If everyone reasoned like you, Scientists would still believe Atom is the smallest indissoluble and indestructible particle.

We would still hold on to the theory that the world is flat.

Or that the sun rotates round the earth.

These are previously held concepts and theories that have been proven false through the instrumentality of those who dared to think different.

Dare to think different!

Oga you dey talk like fool. Big fool.

Stop trying to be smart by half.
If we are to go by your utterly baseless assertions, then every kind of grammatical blunder should be accepted, since who knows, they might be universally accepted in the near future.

There are rules of English, just like any other language. Going afoul of those rules means bad grammar. As simple as that.

No come here dey disgrace yourself thinking say u dey wise.
Na just mumu you be.

Okay

alphaNomega:
I am posting here because it is used a lot in this section (including Family section) and I'm tempted to blame the poor quality of education in Nigeria. We have the internet today and the people who use this "abomination" every time have access to the right information?

It is double shame when the moderators move the topics to front-page and still including "cousin sister/brother" in the title. Scroll through front-page history to see what I'm talking about. I won't make any screenshots.

Maybe that's what English teachers are telling these kids in school these days. Who knows?

If I happen to be an examiner and my candidate makes this blunder, I will stop the exam immediately and correct them before the exam resumes.

For the "English is not our mother tongue" army, it is better you write everything you want to say in your mother tongue, than speak foul language and call it English.

Don't blame the teacher! Every time the team loses a match, you think the coach isn't good?

Now, those people you talk about are simply crazy. One idiot will start something and before you say "Jack!" It has become a norm.

There are 4 types of Gender - Masculine, Feminine, Common and Neuter.

The word 'cousin' belongs to the common gender. These are words of either sex (male or female) E.g. friend, neighbour, guest, teacher, colleague, speaker, child etc.

You don't need to modify the word 'cousin' with brother or sister, and if you must, my male cousin or female cousin is more appropriate.

Penguin2:


They are abominable because it’s Nigerians that are using it…

I bet you wouldn’t call it abomination if it were Americans using the expression

Really it is abominable.

Cousin brother sounds like you intended to say "my cousin's brother" who technically is still your cousin, you then arrive again to where you took off from.

placeofallure:


Don't blame the teacher! Every time the team loses a match, you think the coach isn't good?

Now, those people you talk about are simply crazy. One idiot will start something and before you say "Jack!" It has become a norm.

There are 4 types of Gender - Masculine, Feminine, Common and Neuter.

The word 'cousin' belongs to the common gender. These are words of either sex (male or female) E.g. friend, neighbour, guest, teacher, colleague, speaker, child etc.

You don't need to modify the word 'cousin' with brother or sister, and if you must, my male cousin or female cousin is more appropriate.

Well said, you will be surprised at the number of Nigerians that disagree with you and they run into millions. I hope this thread will help make up for what they missed learning English language in school. It was too bad that even nairaland mods were guilty of this blunder.

jogsman01:
I no sabi English and I'm neither trying to be rude, but I know there's a huge difference between language and communication. As long as you can understand the message being passed, forget the grammar. No be exam we dey do here now. If it irritates you seeing those 'cousin brother/sister' post, close one eye and go to the next post.

At times it is permissible to use the wrong English words or expression for the purpose of communication; that is called "Code-Switching." We were taught in school, but you only do that when it is absolutely necessary.

"Cousin brother" is all shades of wrong. We should discourage it's use. Some people pick up things from here. I learn from here too. Nairaland is a vast land that is full of opportunities if you put it to good use. As I speak, somebody from here is teaching me freelancing for free, I've started making money. So don't underestimate anything you see here.

I'd be damned as a teacher if I teach my learners the wrong stuff. Even though people use it, they MUST know that it is wrong.
Until the Oxford English Dictionary absolves "cousin brother or cousin sister" as correct expressions, it remains wrong.

Thank you.

placeofallure:


At times it is permissible to use the wrong English words or expression for the purpose of communication; that is called "Code-Switching." We were taught in school, but you only do that when it is absolutely necessary.

"Cousin brother" is all shades of wrong. We should discourage it's use. Some people pick up things from here. I learn from here too. Nairaland is a vast land that is full of opportunities if you put it to good use. As I speak, somebody from here is teaching me freelancing for free, I've started making money. So don't underestimate anything you see here.

I'd be damned as a teacher if I teach my learners the wrong stuff. Even though people use it, they MUST know that it is wrong.
Until the Oxford English Dictionary absolves "cousin brother or cousin sister" as correct expressions, it remains wrong.

Thank you.

I never said it's right. My point is 'the understanding of the message being passed'.

Have a good time.

siofra:
I absolutely hate that stuff. Why can't you just say cousin and stop stressing.

how do you know the gender of the cousins without asking .

To me , I see as they trying to insert what gender the cousin is .

. nothing more.

thorpido:
I won't lie,I have been irritated whenever I see the cousin brother or cousin sister.
Simply say my male cousin or female cousin.

You don't even need female or male qualifiers.

If you communicate clearly, we would decipher the sex.

Maybe the anchor cousin is their favorite one.

Blunttruth:

There's no need sef, once they start using pronouns we will know the sex.

I did not see this before my post.

My female cousin's female sister

meobizy:
I have a cousin brother, cousin sister, cousin man, cousin woman, cousin uncle and cousin aunt. I live in a cousin city within a cousin country which is ruled by a cousin government.

OP, if you no know, na you sabi.

Hahahahahaha!