HP translations- the name 'Hogwarts'

[saraquel_omphale]

No: HPFGUIDX 109465


> Sandra asked
> Over the weekend I have read an article in a German newspaper (die 
 Hogwarts!
> Which 'die Zeit says derives from hog = pig and warts. I did not 
know 
> the word hog before this article, but I have looked it up now and 
it 
> seems to have other meanings in addition to pig.
> 
> I am now curious what, for a native English speaker (especially 
> British), are the things which spring to mind when they first read 
> the name 'Hogwarts'. What 'image' does it create, and is it so 
> completely unsuitable for this school as the German translation 
> suggested by 'die ZEIT' (Schweinewarze) would be?

Yep, it's as rough as it sounds. (from a English English speaker) 
Image: hmmm something hairy, grunty, smelly, muddy and generally 
fairly ugly.  The German is a literal translation, I think.  But,Hog, 
to me, conjours pictures of wild boar rather than domestic pigs. My 
German is not good enough to know whether the same distinction 
applies to the word Schweine.

Warts, for anyone unfamiliar with the word, these are the small 
raised growths of hard skin often found on the hands, and which are 
caused by a virus I think.  Anyway, to me the word always conjours 
images of Oliver Cromwell, the first Protector, who signed the death 
warrant for King Charles I and led the Parliamentarians in the 
English Civil War of the 1660's, because he famously had warts on his 
nose.  Yes he established the first democracy, but he later got a bit 
mired down in the rampant politics of the period, a good guy with 
unfortunate facial disfigurements and a bit of power streak.  But I 
digress, warts is also a common feature asigned to witches in 
folklore, and along with moles (the brown body markings not the 
digging variety) were sometimes considered in the witch hunt era, 
(16th & 17th Century) to be nipples on which the devil sucked. If you 
were named as a witch by someone, you were examined to see if you had 
these markings (moles or warts)on your body, if so, you were doomed 
to the ducking stool (strapped to a chair and lowered into the river -
 if you survived you were obviously a witch with magic powers, if you 
died, well, they got it wrong, you were obviously innocent, but oh 
dear never mind, God would pardon you) or burnt at the stake.  I 
would recommend the very famous play, The Crucible, which is about 
the Salem witches (I think? no doubt our American friends will put me 
right) and was actually written at the time of the McCarthy trials.

Hope that goes someway to answering your query
Saraquel