Talk:Operation Stösser

I do not know how to add a reference to the same article in another language-wikipedia, if anyone knows, ehre is the link to the German version about the operation: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unternehmen_Stößer

Thanks! First, it shows the title should be "Operation Stößer" (or "Stoesser", but not "Stösser"); the ö is long, hence the sharp s following it is ligated in writing as ß, not written as double-s, even in the modern reformed spelling.

Second, I corrected the translation - it was rendered in English as "Operation Auk", but this is probably a result of a mishearing due to h-dropping; it would be Operation Alk (or maybe Alken) in German. The Nazis tried really hard to sound "folksy" in their "animal"-type codenames and drew much rural and hunters' jargon, hard to translate at times. "Stößer" is an old-fashioned/folk term for generic accipitrid (non-falcon) raptors such as sparrowhawks and goshawks, that attack their prey in a diving flight or a dash from a perch (cf. German: stoßen, zustoßen, herabstoßen; Stößer literally means "one who dashes"). "Hawk" is etymologically unrelated but covers quite the same folk-taxonomy category; this hunting mode, even in songbirds such as flycatchers, is generally known in English as "hawking". There is no real etymological equivalent of Stößer; the falconry term "stooper" would come closest but it is not a category, merely referring to an individual bird's behaviour. The German etymological equivalent of "hawk" is Habicht but this specifically refers to goshawks. Thus, "Operation Hawk" would be the literal equivalent in lieu of a true literal and etymological alternative. (Think that's confusing? Try the Bachem Natter...) Dysmorodrepanis (talk) 02:06, 20 March 2019 (UTC)