The Ugly Daughter in Law

Last week in Annie’s Project (Farm Management for Women Class), I learned some new vocabulary:

“If a guy is in farming with his dad, and the son dies, what does the Ugly Daughter-in-Law get?”

“Ugly Daughter-in-Law?” I asked.

“Yeah, you know – the daughter in law from the city, didn’t grow up on the farm, who knows nothing about farming, and doesn’t understand the CULTURE of agriCULTURE.  She thinks the sofa comes before the tractors.  It’s a common term that the Good Old German Boys used.”  He said this as if this was prerequisite knowledge before taking the course.

 

I guess I’m the Ugly Daughter-in-Law.

My husband’s family is German.

I did not grow up on a farm.

I knew very little about farming when we began.

I want a new couch.

Oh, and I’m a democrat.  Apparently farmers are supposed to be republican.  (My Father in Law declared that I would have to “become a republican now that you’re a farmer!”)

 

So really, have you heard this term before?  Am I an ugly daughter-in-law?  My father in law says (with a grin) that he’s heard of the situation, but not the terminology.  I googled it, and the only place I could find it was in a Chinese proverb literally translated to English, and a paper written by, guess who?  The Annie’s Project instructor.