Among both Muslims and Christians, there is a traditional preference for marriage to a patrilineal first cousin.

Moreover, a traditional preference for male offspring, especially in the countryside, appears to have intensified as parents have fewer children over all.

Meyer's warnings about enforcing virtue were forgotten, along with the traditional Republican preference for states' rights.

A traditional preference for boys translates quickly - in China, India and many other developing countries - into neglect and death for girls.

Mr. Salzman prevailed over the other bidders, he said, by appealing to the company's traditional preference for family-owned dealerships.

Although Wolf has a strong desire to eat Rabbit, his children develop close friendships with Lucy, rejecting traditional dietary preferences.

Thus he demonstrated a traditional Benedictine preference to establish monasteries and religious centers in farming regions and to work among rural people rather than urban.

In response, George W. Bush set aside the traditional Republican preference for states' rights by going to federal court to deny the counties' recounts.

This traditional preference becomes particularly important because of China's family planning rules, which have governed for the last dozen years.

It could provide the distribution and promotion, but we still had to wean the consumer away from his traditional preference for a Scotch-type beverage.