Ormanda is not a German word/Ormanda ist kein deutsches Wort

Aus dem Spiegel Online:

bq. Zum G-8-Gipfel in Georgia tauften US-Schüler acht Meeresschildkröten zu Ehren der Teilnehmernationen auf landestypische Namen. Und so wurde Deutschlands Schildkröte “Ormanda” genannt. Was das bedeuten soll, können allerdings nicht einmal Sprachwissenschaftler erklären.

Press release
of May 27th for the G8 summit in Georgia:

bq. ATLANTA, GA – Governor Sonny Perdue announced today the names for eight Georgia loggerhead sea turtles involved in a new satellite telemetry project that the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) will launch in the coming weeks. Elementary school children from across the state submitted names for the sea turtles in honor of the countries participating in the G8 Summit, which are the United States, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, and Russia. The G8 Summit is scheduled for June 8 – 10, 2004 on Sea Island, Georgia.

The Spiegel article points out that Ormanda is not a German word. It does mean ‘in the forest’ or ‘in the wood’ in Turkish, though.

You can track the turtles here, although the German one has not yet appeared. The British one, Tea Cake, can be seen:

bq. Tea Cake is named for the traditional food served with afternoon tea, a favorite among residents of the United Kingdom. This name was submitted by Miss Maria Dixon, a 5th grade student of Mr. Harry Moss at Bethune Elementary in College Park, GA.

Personally, I think teacake should be all one word. I know they exist, but I have rarely had one. Anyway, I think you can get hot cross buns all year round now, although they’re not PC!

I gather the Japanese word is not too good either, and the Russian is still to be confirmed.

(Article mentioned on the pt German translators’ mailing list at Yahoo)

2 thoughts on “Ormanda is not a German word/Ormanda ist kein deutsches Wort

  1. Teacake? Didn’t those go out of fashion in the 1960s, along with high tea? I think you can still get fairy cakes, mind you. Just goes to show what a weird image the UK often has abroad. They’re probably still teaching the London smogs/friendly bobbies/men in bowler hats stuff.

    On one of my recent trips to the US (Florida ATA Conference, I think), I got into one of those “Gee, you speak good English, where did you learn it?” conversations. “I’m from Scotland”, I replied. “That’s great. Do you speak English there?”. I think many Brits have this sort of near-death-by-laughter experience in the US. Florida was also the place where a waitress rattled off the wine list and recommended the “Bordox”.

  2. I’m afraid teacakes weren’t part of my upbringing. I’ve heard the word, but I couldn’t have told you what it was. But when I read the dictionary definition, I realized I must have had one at Brown’s Hotel in the late 1980s. I find my own memories of the London smogs in the 1950s hard to believe – going out in the morning and knowing that if I held out my arm and couldn’t see my hand, we would be sent home early.

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