I ran across a German child's book in a bookstore recently and bought it. There's a term in the book that I just can't quite grasp the meaning of. Here is an exerpt: "Die Tauben-Oma stellt den Teller mit den Pfannkuchen auf den Tisch und setzt sich hin." ... "Die sind heute besonders gross", sagt sie vorwurfsvoll. "Riesenpfannkuchen sind das. Tauben-Oma, du hast geschummelt." Ok, what I can come up with for "Tauben-Oma" is either deaf grandma or dove grandma. I can't figure for the life of me why a small child would be addressing her grandma as, "Deaf grandma, you cheated." Seems a little crass and it also seems from the content of the book grandma can hear quite well. Anyone?

Hi there, the term does seem a little strange, however it's not referring to the grandma being deaf, as that would be "taube Oma" or "Taub-Oma" (not correct grammatically, but as a name it's alright). "Tauben-Oma" must be referring to "dove grandma". Does the story shed some more light on why the grandma might be called that? Does she feed the pigeons or something like that? The book might be part of a series where perhaps one of the earlier books explain the name? Sorry I can't help, but I have never come across the term "Tauben-Oma" and it is certainly not very common. Good luck.