The origins of the Snowgoose
27 Feb
So you all know that I’m the Snowgoose, this is not a surprise. What is a surprise is that I’m not the Snowgoose at all; I’ve been carrying a dark secret and living a lie my whole life… but we’ll get to that.
First a bit of background: My surname is Schneigansz (shnaai-guns), hard to pronounce but majestic in meaning – Snowgoose.
I have always been very proud to be a Snowgoose, both the animal and the book evokes thoughts of purity, commitment, nobility and friendship.
My dad was the original Snowgoose. He was a big cheese in corporate South Africa in the 80’s and was known only as “Snowgoose” or “Goose” (Retief stole it from him, I tell you!) He even went so far as to have a one metre brass Snowgoose plaque made that is on his wall outside his house to this day.
My dad wanted a son and heir; he went through 3 wives and 5 daughters before he gave up. This means that our family name will not continue past my generation and this always saddened me. So when I was in design school and learning about branding, it struck me: I don’t have to be a Schneigansz to be a Snowgoose! And so I set out creating my personal brand – I even designed a Snowgoose logo and got it tattooed onto my back. He’s never said anything but I’d like to think my dad is really proud that I’m carrying the Snowgoose legacy into the future.
Aw, sweet – how inspiring… Pity its all crap!
A few years ago I was speaking to a real German (in English, I don’t speak a word of German) and I was telling him my Snowgoose story. Just as I got to the stirring father-daughter bit he stopped me and said the words that caused the biggest identity crisis I had ever had:
“You do realise that your surname doesn’t mean Snowgoose, don’t you?”
“No” I replied, “it does mean Snowgoose”. I proceeded to explain to this German native like he was an imbecile; “Schnei= snow, Gansz= goose… see?”
“Sorry meine liebschen” (OK, he didn’t say meine liebschen, I made that bit up. Anyway…) “Schnei = Cut, Gans=goose. So your surname actually means Cut goose”, he smiled.
“What!?!? What do you mean Cut goose? No, NO – My surname means Snowgoose, see? I even got it tattooed on my… O MY SACK! Do you mean that the goose etched into my sensitive skin for eternity is a CUT goose!?!?”
At that point I nearly fainted and felt murderous thoughts replacing the fondness for my father that I was waxing lyrical only moments before. He never told me! He must have known and he let me believe this for 22 years! Can you imagine if I had gone to Germany and told everyone my Snowgoose story – I would have been the laughing stock of the Motherland!
After some more research (I love research), I discovered that my ancestry in Germany has the surname “Schneegans”. It’s quite a common surname over there but any online searches for Schneigansz just returned the same handful of people each time, all South African.
I know very little about my dad’s family and have never met them but I do know they came to South Africa around the time of World War 2 and they changed the spelling of the surname (I’ll let you draw your own conclusions as to why). So my dignity is saved! I really am a Snowgoose! Just because my weird grandparents couldn’t spell doesn’t mean I have to erase my whole identity. Deep down I knew all along, I even said it in this blog post… I don’t have to be a Schneigansz (or even a Schneegans) to be a Snowgoose. Heck, I’m a Snowgoose already and always have been.
Long live the goose!
Hilarious… You write pretty well for a cut goose.
He he well whatever kind of goose you are, long live the goose.
@James Thanks! Flattering considering I was half asleep when I wrote it!
@Po Long live the goose indeed
hee hee… very interesting life story there, snoo!
And i totally agree with James… Well written!
LOL I just think you’re a silly goose
@snappingturtle That’s not the half of it! But it would take me years to get my whole life story down on a blog
@Melissa That I am Mel, That I am.
That is a pretty interesting story Heidi. Thanks for sharing that.
the story gave me goose-pimples
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