LL-L "Traditions" 2008.05.03 (02) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 04 May 2008 - Volume 02
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From: Soenke Dibbern <s_dibbern at web.de>
Subject: LL-L "Traditions" 2008.05.03 (04) [E]

An'n So., den 04. Mai.'08, hett Elsie Zinsser dit Klock 22.02 schreven:

From: Elsie Zinsser <ezinsser at icon.co.za>
Subject: LL-L "Idiomatica" 2008.05.03 (02) [E]

 I've heard another meaning for "Vom Storch gebissen" when my niece had her
> baby son
> five months ago:
>
> Willem Fritz was born with a red V-mark on his forehead, which his
> paternal family in
> Pennsylvania immediately referred to as a 'bite from the stork'.
> Is this a typical American saying for a non-permanent birth mark or only a
> regional thing
> originating from the German expression but with a different meaning?
>

To me a "Storchenbiss" is the normal German expression for those
non-permanent birth-marks, in contrast to "vom Storch gebissen" for "being
pregnant", which I have never heard. Wikipedia knows these marks for English
by the same name ("stork bite") and by the term "Angel's Kiss". Swedish
("Storkbett"), Icelandish ("Stork(a)bit") and Dutch ("Ooievaarsbeet") use
the same term, according to the respective native language Wikipedias. So
the myth of the stork bringing the babies seems to be fairly widespread
throughout the germanic languages.

Regards,
Sönke
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