text: What's a Rewolwer? - General Ammunition Discussion - International Ammunition Association Web Forum
  What's a Rewolwer?
  DennisK August 4, 2013, 5:17pm #1
  At the local gun show this morning, a guy had three 12-round packets of .380 Mk2z for sale. The label was a red paper band that said "12 PATRONE REWOLWER .380 MK2z" Seller told me they were NATO, and British-made. Boxes were sealed so I couldn't see the HS, and they looked fairly recent. So what's a REWOLWER?
  Fede August 4, 2013, 5:31pm #2
  Dennis, this is a South African production made by PMP with a bilingual label in English and Afrikaans language (on opposite sides).
  DennisK August 4, 2013, 5:48pm #3
  For these boxes, the label spelling was the same on both sides - I checked for that. What would approximate dating be? I would have bought a box, but I thought $20 each was a little too high.
  JohnMoss August 4, 2013, 5:59pm #4
  A "rewolwer" is a proper phonetic spelling of "Revolver" in Germanic languages, where the English "w" is pronounced as "v" (and "v" is prounounced as "f"). They generally do not use this spelling simply spelling it in the English way or in the foreign language adaption of the word, but I can't say this is wrong if they were after the correct sound but spoken in German and perhaps Afrikaans if it truly is a label from RSA. The revolver" in German is spelled as in English - "der Revolver." I don't know if it is pronounced as we do in German, or if it is pronounced "refolfer." I know nothing much at all about Afrikaans.
  JPeelen August 4, 2013, 9:39pm #5
  Pronunciation of "Revolver" in German is basically like English, except for the German way of pronouncing the R, of course.
  In Dutch it also is "revolver", by the way, but Africaans is a sort of ancient Dutch, I was told.
  DennisK August 4, 2013, 10:48pm #6
  Googling around some, it seems that "Rewolwer" is the common Polish spelling for "Revolver". Any Poles here that could clarify? If so, I have to wonder if there is any Polish connection to the ammunition boxes I saw today, maybe made for Poland. I wish I could have seen the headstamp. Could "patrone" be Polish? Seems more like German. The translation sites indicate that cartridge translates into "Naboj" in Polish.
  RayMeketa August 4, 2013, 11:03pm #7
  You guys are causing me a lot of pain from biting my tongue. There are some good Barbara Walters and Gilda Radner jokes in there but I'm not about to get myself in trouble by repeating them here, even if it is Sunday.
  DennisK August 4, 2013, 11:44pm #8
  Barbara Walters suffered from rotacistic speech, which involves mis-pronunciation of the letter "r". She would probably have said Wevolvwa. But that's beside the point.
  Fede August 5, 2013, 12:06am #9
  Dennis, these boxes are typically found with PMP cartridges with headstamps from mid to late 1960's (i.e. P.M.P. 67 ·380 2Z). A correct Afrikaans translation for revolver is "rewolwer" (also Polish, but it is not the case).
  VinceGreen August 5, 2013, 7:07am #10
  Lots of places in the word have the 'V' pronounced 'W', having a name like Vince you notice things like that.
  sksvlad August 5, 2013, 5:39pm #11
  Ray, you almost killed me with your first sentence
  Signed: Wladimir
  DennisK August 5, 2013, 10:44pm #12
  "A correct Afrikaans translation for revolver is "rewolwer" (also Polish, but it is not the case)."
  And so it is. Of the languages of Google Translate, "Revolver" is "Rewolwer" only in Afrikaans and Polish. Many years ago I had a thing going with a young lady from South Africa, but it did not include language lessons concerning weaponry.
  wrm August 9, 2013, 7:14pm #13
  I'll confirm that "12 PATRONE REWOLWER .380 MK2z" is perfectly valid Afrikaans. Both "patrone" (rounds) and "rewolwer" (revolver, obviously).