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Help[Opinions] Edelweiss
Thoughts? What middle name would you use?
“Dear optimist, pessimist, and realist – while you guys were busy arguing about the glass of wine, I drank it! Sincerely, the opportunist!”
-Lori Greiner
“Dear optimist, pessimist, and realist – while you guys were busy arguing about the glass of wine, I drank it! Sincerely, the opportunist!”
-Lori Greiner
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I had a colleague once - a white South African like myself - who was always called Edel. I assumed that it was short for Edelweiss, and this worried me a lot. It said, or I thought it said, much more about white supremacy than little white Alpine flowers. She was on the right-wing side of average too, so it seemed likely that her upbringing had been ... what mine had not. Time passed. The place we were working at closed down and we all went off in different directions. After a while, I saw a reference on my office computer to this very person; I was able to look her up and see her full name, and so I did. It wasn't Edelweiss at all! Her full name was actually Elizabeth. And this made answering to Edel even more of a political statement than I'd thought it was before.
Long, unhappy story. No. I would never, ever even think of using Edelweiss as a human or an animal name. Not in this country. It would carry far too much baggage.
Long, unhappy story. No. I would never, ever even think of using Edelweiss as a human or an animal name. Not in this country. It would carry far too much baggage.
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I tried googling white supremacy + edelweiss last night because the connection felt obvious to me, but all I could find was this (granted, I didn’t look long) so I kept quiet about it in my response https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edelweiss_Pirates
This message was edited 9/24/2021, 11:31 PM
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It doesn’t even sound like a name.
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Edelweiss has a musicaly quality to the sound that I love. The pretty starlike flower of the same name grows in remote alpine areas, so it carries the connatation of something that is both fragile and hardy, being able to bloom in conditions that most things cannot survive.
On the negative side, some English speakers who didn't grow up with "The Sound if Music" may not know how to pronounce it. I'm not fond of how the double S looks on the end. The German spelling Edelweiß looks tidier to me, but pronounciation issues remain. It probably would work best for a middle name or a fluffy white kitten.
On the negative side, some English speakers who didn't grow up with "The Sound if Music" may not know how to pronounce it. I'm not fond of how the double S looks on the end. The German spelling Edelweiß looks tidier to me, but pronounciation issues remain. It probably would work best for a middle name or a fluffy white kitten.
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I like it, though I'd be more inclined to use it as a middle name.
Combos:
Edelweiss Maria
Edelweiss Joanna / Johanna
Edelweiss Georgina
Edelweiss Marina
Edelweiss Ginevra
Edelweiss Matilda / Mathilda
Edelweiss Camilla
Edelweiss Irene / Irina
Edelweiss Minerva
Edelweiss Brigitte / Brigitta
Edelweiss Naomi / Noemi
Edelweiss Leona
Edelweiss Letitia
Edelweiss Roxana
Edelweiss Rowena
Edelweiss Diana
Combos:
Edelweiss Maria
Edelweiss Joanna / Johanna
Edelweiss Georgina
Edelweiss Marina
Edelweiss Ginevra
Edelweiss Matilda / Mathilda
Edelweiss Camilla
Edelweiss Irene / Irina
Edelweiss Minerva
Edelweiss Brigitte / Brigitta
Edelweiss Naomi / Noemi
Edelweiss Leona
Edelweiss Letitia
Edelweiss Roxana
Edelweiss Rowena
Edelweiss Diana
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Terrible
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I like Edelweiss Anna and Edelweiss Marta
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Utterly silly. It doesn’t sound like a name at all.
This message was edited 9/24/2021, 1:54 PM
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