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Novala recently spotted Pumuckl, the wildly popular German cartoon character, on primetime Slovenian television. See him in action here.
Popular cartoon characters have also made apperances on local television stations. For example, I’ve noticed that quite a few local shows are hosted by the teenage mutant ninja turtles. (Only they’re not ninjas. And they’re not turtles.)
Also: Did you know that it’s forbidden by law to name your child Pumuckl in Germany? It’s true. The idea is to protect the child from ridicule. However, if you’re born to parents who would even consider naming you Pumuckl, that’s probably going to be the least of your problems.
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Actually, when it comes to naming, germans have rather strict regulations. I have a german friend and once i suggested he should get himself a von name, like such as every true german should have. He said that it would never go through, because it is considered inapropriate.
Quick question for you Michael: Is “Schnappy the Schnappin’ Turtle” a German or Slovenian character?
Schnappy is actually a green German crocodile, singing his song all around and everywhere. It is also the name for the singer Seal (Heide Klum’s husband), given to him by a German comedy guy. Seal was namely spotted at the carnival in Köln, dressed as a green dragon…
Also: Did you know that it’s forbidden by law to name your child Pumuckl in Germany? It’s true. The idea is to protect the child from ridicule.
No such laws seem to exist around here. So some names proudly show the parents’ vivid imagination.
I presume many people have heard of “Živa Groza”. While Živa is a perfectly acceptable name for a girl, and Groza is a not-so-unusual family name, the combination is a killer: the Enlgish translation is “Living Horror”.
Another nice name, actually given to some guy, is “Jaka Racman”. Perhaps some people might find it funny as this is also Slovenian translation of “Donald Duck”.
And the oh so fashionable three-letter names. While some are perfectly OK and pretty, many others sound ridiculous and seem much more fitting for a pet rather than a child.
BTW, the three-letter name fashion seems to be fading - the latest hit among the wannabe trendies appears to be
giving your child a double name.
I think Germans actually used to (maybe still do) have a list of acceptable names. For that matter, I think Yugoslavia used to have the same thing. I know someone who wasn’t allowed the name Nadja (too Germanic) and so had to be (officially) Nada. After independence, she changed it.
There’s actually a breed of turtle that i’ve read about called an “alligator snapping turtle”. That’s probably what “Schnappy the Schnappin’ Turtle” is based on.
I’m not sure if the alligator schnapper that you speak of is appropriate for children for the danger of biting!
Personally, I’d rather be a Pumuckl (I loved the TV series, btw) than have one of those typically German(ic) names like Thorsten or anything ending with -ke (Frauke, Anke, Silke)…
Michael: Actually, Nadja is of Russian origin, so by prohibiting it someone made a big mistake years ago… It would also seem that not all officials were that politically correct 34 years ago: a friend of mine was called Kornelija, which I am quite sure sounds/is German(ic), too. Another friend of mine, working in Germany, is called Mojca and since no German seems to be able to pronounce or spell her name correctly, she recently added (and was officially allowed to do so in Slovenia) an Alexandra with an x to her name…
In Canada, in the province of Quebec where I live, since 1993 all names must get checked by a committee before being allowed to be given to a baby. This is more so parents don’t give children names that will cause them to be ridiculed when growing up. I know of two names so far that have been rejected, Spatule (which is french for Spatula), and Cétunange (which is It’sanangel).
Why are all the slovenian sports newscasters ex special olympics stars?
Ooops, it just dawned on me that with my "ending in -ke" comment I might have insulted Mr. MansKE. My adversion to the -kes is strictly limited to first names, seriously!
The French have a list of official names.
German law just states that the name must not be ridiculous and specific to the child’s gender.
“I have a german friend and once i suggested he should get himself a von name, like such as every true german should have.”
*???*
A von name? A title of nobility?
Personaly, I believe that Živa Groza is an urban myth, such as Živa Mercina (Beast alive - roughly translated), (by the way, there are only 6 people in Slovenia to have last name Groza
you can check it here :http://www.stat.si/imena.asp . By the way: which pop star named it offspring Lunar unit? I believe it was Bob Geldof, but please somebody correct me if I’m wrong. The proud owner of this name change it as soon as he turned 18.
cija: It was none other than Frank Zappa. His daughter was Moon Unit, the weirdest name ever.
That would be Moon Unit Zappa. Also popularly known as Valley girl, for her amazing rendition of a vall in the song of the same name. Well worth a listen. For some reason I have the feeling Zappa’s kids are themselves “weird” (in a good sense) enough to totally accept their “different names”. His son, who at births was officially denied the name Dweebil, changed his own name to that exact name as soon as he was legally old enough to do that. Then again, this whole post might be just the Zappa fanboy in me talking…
p.s. had some problems posting this last post. for some weird reason, my ip was blacklisted… anyway, just wanted to add that i too think Živa Groza is an urban myth. Mafalda Fikfak is for real, though.
This site clarifies the whole “schnappy the schnappin’ turtle” debate.
www.toni-turtle.de/
Sorry, Michael, but you were wrong! The turtle’s name is “toni”.
Ziva Mrcina is not an urban legend, she is or used to train track&field.
Ah, good ol’ Fikfak Mafalda. And who could forget Viktor Faktor?
Ah, good ol’ Fikfak Mafalda. And who could foget Viktor Faktor?
would you believe it if i told you me and my roommates discovered miss Fikfak by accident while browsing through the F entries of a phonebook one very uneventful day? Oh, and speaking of names, one of our possible landlord’s name was Cvetko Plevel… (which would mean as much as Flower Weed, for those of you not lucky enough to be slovene
No offense taken, retailtherapist, although I think my cousin Frauke Anke Silke Manske wouldn’t feel the same.
Spatula?? SPATULA!?!?! bwah ha ha ha ha!!! That had me falling off my chair, laughing! Names are hi-frickin’-larious to me, and I could SO use the chuckle today - thank you! Oh, and not that it’s much better, but it’s "Dweezil" Zappa, not "Dweebil". I’m really not sure what either one was supposed to mean anyway…
After spending a year in Germany I fell in love with Pumuckl, he rocks!