Hromnice

Hromnice means Ground Hog Day in Czech, but as I was told . . . “it’s not a holiday” . . . . well, it’s not a holiday in the US, either, but it’s on all the calendars, and the goofy enthusiasm we show for the occasion could easily lead them to believe that it is . . . . I guess that it is, sort-of, in Punxatawny.

 

So I was on TDY in PRG on Groundhog Day, and I saw it on the calendar, and reacted the goofy, excited way Americans do about it, so my cubicle mates were disturbed – their concentration on real work was broken till I could explain . . . so I explained it, and the rituals, to their amazement . . . they conversed amongst themselves till they came up with “hromnice”, which they pronounced “Huh-r-r-r-r-rom-neet-sa” . . . don’t be shy, try it at home: huff that H, and roll that R! . . . 8^D . . .

 

So: I inevitably referred to the movie Ground Hog Day, to more perplexed looks . . . with Bill Murray? . . . more uncertain nods . . . same thing happens over-and-over till he redeems himself? . . . unwilling shakes of the head . . . dies over-and-over-but still lives? . . . outright confusion and even consternation . . . Andie McDowell?

 

Ooooh! Andie McDowell said one guy . . .and he chattered to the others in Czech till they all had broad smiles and were nodding? OH! They all said, “GROUND HOG DAY!”

 

Well, that’s what I thought I was saying . . .

 

I’ve conducted this informal research now with 4 or 5 groups of Czechs with uniform response: they don’t know anything till I bring up Andie McDowell, then they know everything, including the philosophic/sardonic lesson of the movie . . .  as far as I can tell, she has no Czech connections, has never been here, but there’s some sort of psychic connection . . .