Originally Posted by Gillianren

To be blunt, your opinion is wrong. It's perfectly valid English. It doesn't get used much, but it's still correct. There's a reason essentially every dictionary you look at will call the two synonyms; it's because they are. (And for the record, it is possible for an opinion to be wrong if it's built on incorrect information. We deal with wrong opinions all the time around here.) 100 years ago, it's possible (I'd have to check my older books) that "relations" was the one everyone used and "relatives" wasn't proper English in someone's opinion. (Did Emma refer to "relatives" or "relations"? I think the latter. Likewise Jane Eyre.) As I said earlier, I'm pretty sure A. A. Milne used it, and while he played with English to a certain extent, it was only in making it more childlike.

Further, I don't think Jens was slamming anyone. Just attempting to gather more detailed, varied information. If you don't put your location, how can anyone be expected to remember where it is in a place with literally dozens of regulars?