They think it’s all Ova… it is now for a Czech tradition whose time is up because Czech women have rightly had enough.
Few of us will have bothered a jot when hearing the names of the wave of Czech female tennis players in the Seventies as to their derivation.
We did though smile at umpires stumbling over Martina Navratilova’s name.
Marvellous Martinas
They were soon to got lots of practice.
The -ova suffix is given to Czech women to denote that they belong to their husband or father.
In English ova is plural for ovum, a female egg cell.
The good news for Czech women is that the Republic’s Ministry of the Interior is looking to push through a change as early as August.
I have been fortunate enough to have been hosted by a number of Czech women in the Republic.
And I would advise anyone who might think that because they have accepted this -ova anachronism that they might be happy to be subservient to men to think again.
Martina soon disavowed an American tourist of the notion.
When his son complained about the queues in the Astronomical Clock.
Young Buck, or Brad, or whatever his name is, soon learned not to disrespect such an important part of Prague history.
Na Zdravi Czech women
The discarding of the -ova suffix will be long overdue.
And a last vestige of a repression dressed up as tradition.
Worth remembering though that here in the UK some still frown upon women who order pints of lager.
Try shooting a Czech woman lager drinker in Prague, Karlovy Vary or Hoptown Zatec and see where that gets you.
So we welcome the change in Czechland. They think it’s all ova…. it is now!
