Half-orphan

[Benjamin Barrett]

That was the definition of orphan for me until my mother exclaimed she
wasn't ready to become an orphan when her mother passed away. BB

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society
> [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Barbara Need

> Yes. The minor child part is especially important for my
> understanding of "orphan"--which I why I do not think of
> myself as a half-orphan (despite the loss of my father in
> January) or of my mother as an orphan.