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ArchivesRe: name for consideration
in reply to a message by Eliza-Bennett
I've seen it used; but not recently ...
In the bad old days in South Africa when the apartheid government was in power and many of the white population tended to believe what they were told, the European language most frequently taught in our schools (apart from English and Afrikaans of course) was German, what with Namibia (formerly German South-West Africa) being just across the border. And other historical reasons ... So Edelweiss, with its meaning of Noble And White, was used for a few people.
I find this embarrassing even to mention! But I suppose it's no worse than naming a child Jubilee after Queen Elizabeth's however-manyeth anniversary, and a lot better than Apple.
There is in fact a tradition of political name-giving among some Afrikaans South Africans, the most lurid of which were probably Doringdraadina (She of the Barbed Wire) and Eeufesia (She of the Centenary Celebrations). Edelweiss would have fitted in there pretty comfortably.
I know an Afrikaans woman whose nickname is Edel, though her given name is Elizabeth. Perhaps there's a link there, too.
In the bad old days in South Africa when the apartheid government was in power and many of the white population tended to believe what they were told, the European language most frequently taught in our schools (apart from English and Afrikaans of course) was German, what with Namibia (formerly German South-West Africa) being just across the border. And other historical reasons ... So Edelweiss, with its meaning of Noble And White, was used for a few people.
I find this embarrassing even to mention! But I suppose it's no worse than naming a child Jubilee after Queen Elizabeth's however-manyeth anniversary, and a lot better than Apple.
There is in fact a tradition of political name-giving among some Afrikaans South Africans, the most lurid of which were probably Doringdraadina (She of the Barbed Wire) and Eeufesia (She of the Centenary Celebrations). Edelweiss would have fitted in there pretty comfortably.
I know an Afrikaans woman whose nickname is Edel, though her given name is Elizabeth. Perhaps there's a link there, too.
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