Saturday, March 19, 2011

Irritating Misspellings of "Mangalitsa"

Pigs for sale.


The Hungarians created several "mangalica" breeds (PDF). The original Hungarian name is derived from a Serbian word, referring to how easily the pigs fatten.

"Mangalica", transliterated into German, is "Mangalitza". Transliterated into English, it is "Mangalitsa". There's a Serbian version, "Mangulica".

Unfortunately, Mangalitsa and "Mangalitza" are a real mouthful. People have a hard time spelling it right. Sadly, I've seen all too many chefs having "MangaLISTA" dinners.

The most common misppelling Americans make is "Mangalista". Perhaps people are used to typing "list", so they type out "Mangalista".

In any case, there's simply no excuse for "Mangiditza". I can't believe there's someone raising Mangalitsa pigs who mangles the spelling that badly - but there is, as you can see by clicking here.

I get phone calls and people ask me for "Wooly Pigs". I always say, "we have Mangalitsa pigs," or perhaps, "we have Swallow-Bellied Mangalitsa pigs". I'm hoping that eventually people will figure it out.

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