Using Facebook friendships as the connection metric like the link does, I think the vast majority of the tech industry in SF is within two or three degrees.

(I've got mutual "friends" with the guy.)

I suppose, but I'm not from SF. I'm originally from CT then went to school in Boston, and met my ex who shares same hometown as Priscilla.

Shockingly, most of the tech industry does not live in SF.

You can shorten it up a bit: her aunt’s cousin is her cousin once removed.

Haha, yes because that reads easy. I'm all for being succinct, but the point is to get the message across in a light-hearted, simple manner by using one hop at a time. What you said wrote sounds scientific and cold.

I always thought “once removed” sounded funny, because it’s rarely used in practice enough that I pretty much only hear it in gags about convoluted relationships.

You think it sounds funny for a reason :)

I think that it's an awkward pairing that needs context. You're immediately thinking "once removed from what?" and then scanning for what it is. This can be a burdensome way to end a sentence. Better to build up to something than to force the listener to look backwards and reconstruct IMO.

I don’t know what you’re talking about. “Once/twice/thrice removed” means “removed by one/two/three generations”, where “removed” has the sense of “separated”. “From what?” is the wrong question.

I'm annoyed I didn't know that. I read it as once separated, and got the overall message, but was part of the reason I found it so funny to read. Now that I've built that association, I guess it's simpler.

It's weird I'm a big talker and always reading things and never came across that in a way that I memorized it. I appreciate you explaining it to me.