from accents and the use of local alphabets. For example, in Esperanto, Polish, Slovene, Latvian, and Turkish it is Asteriks (in Turkish he was first named Bücür meaning "shorty", but the name was then standardised). Two exceptions include Icelandic, in which he is known as Ástríkur ("Rich of love"), and Sinhala, where he is known as (Soora Pappa), which can be interpreted as "Hero". The name Obelix (Obélix) may refer to "obelisk", a stone column from ancient Egypt, but also to another typographical symbol, the obelisk or obelus (). For explanations of some of the other names, see List of Asterix characters. Ethnic stereotypes Many of the Asterix adventures take place in other countries away from their homeland in Gaul. In every album that takes place abroad, the characters meet (usually modern-day) stereotypes for each country, as seen by the French. Italics (Italians) are the inhabitants of Italy. In the adventures of Asterix, the term "Romans" is used by non-Italics to refer to all inhabitants of Italy, who at that time had extended their dominion over a large part of the Mediterranean basin. But as can be seen in Asterix and the Chariot Race, in the Italic peninsula this term is used only to refer to the people from the capital, with many Italics preferring to identify themselves as Umbrians, Etruscans, Venetians, etc. Various topics from this country are explored, as in this example, Italian gastronomy (pasta, pizza, wine), art, famous people (Pavarotti, Berlusconi, Mona Lisa), and even the controversial issue of political corruption.Romans in general appear more similar to the historical Romans, than to modern-age Italians. Goths (Germans) are disciplined and militaristic, they are composed of many factions that fight amongst each other (which is a reference to Germany before Otto von Bismarck, and to East and West Germany after the Second World War), and they wear the Pickelhaube helmet common during the German Empire. In later appearances, the Goths tend to be more good-natured. Helvetians (Swiss) are neutral, eat fondue, and are obsessed with cleaning, accurate time-keeping, and banks. The Britons (English) are phlegmatic, and speak with early 20th-century aristocratic slang (similar to Bertie Wooster). They stop for tea every day (making it with hot water and a drop of milk until Asterix brings them actual tea leaves), drink lukewarm beer (Bitter), eat tasteless foods with mint sauce (Rosbif), and live in streets containing rows of identical houses.