explanations for some weird in-laws

Yes Bob, I know you are kidding - I swear it's part of the family genetic code.

And in answer to your and Tara's question of "what is knured?" Since neither of you can read (or write) I have no idea. KNURD on the other hand is:

... the opposite of being drunk (also drunk backwards... clever eh?); not sober, but as far from sober as drunkenness, except in the opposite direction. It strips away all the illusion, all the comforting pink fog in which people normally spend their lives, and lets them see and think clearly for the first time ever. This, needless to say, is a very traumatic experience.

It is from an early Terry Pratchett book.