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What are the meanings of "Operation Stork"? I know the common meanings of the word "Operation" and "Stork", but putting the meanings together doesn't make sense to me.

PS：I saw this phase as the name for a photo album about a newborn baby.

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  • Stork is the name by which the operation is called, as in any other operation that has a name, as Operation Overlord or Operation Torch. I don't quite understand the question, you want to know that, or what Operation Stork is about?
    – JMVanPelt
    Commented May 24, 2015 at 1:37
  • "operation" can mean 1. surgery 2. management 3. computation. Which meaning is it in "operation stork"?
    – Tony B
    Commented May 24, 2015 at 1:41
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    If I saw someone mention "Operation Stork" out of the blue, and the context was not either military or some sort of business where such terms might be used, I would assume they were talking about delivering a baby ("the arrival of the stork").
    – Hot Licks
    Commented May 24, 2015 at 1:48
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it seems to be about the name of a specific (military?) campaign, not the use of English
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented May 24, 2015 at 2:05
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    There have been several operations Stork, and all of them involve people helping children or parents in need.
    – ScotM
    Commented May 24, 2015 at 2:52

2 Answers 2

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If it's only been seen on a baby-photo-album, I think it's likely to be a little jokesy title.

It's thought to be traditional to tell a newborn's siblings that the baby was brought by a stork. Imagine a stork flying in with its precious cargo, in imitation of a plane on a mission - or operation.

(Whether the stork is going to drop a bombshell or humanitarian aid, only time will tell.)

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  • Upvote. Should be accepted.
    – Tushar Raj
    Commented May 24, 2015 at 16:05
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In the context you mention, Operation means, according to the OED:

An organized activity involving a number of people.

So, Operation Stork is an organized activity involving a number of people, that happens to be called "Stork" to differentiate itself.

EDIT- Additional info:
There was in fact an Operation Stork, which involved bringing orphans from Haiti to Canada. The conection of "bringing children" with stork is clear.

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  • Most likely this is a euphemism for "giving birth".
    – A.Ellett
    Commented May 24, 2015 at 1:54
  • @A.Ellett There was in fact an Operation Stork, and it involved bringing Haitian orphans to Canada, but as the question is not very clear, I believe the person who asked just wants to know what "operation + something" means.
    – JMVanPelt
    Commented May 24, 2015 at 1:59
  • That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for explaining. :-)
    – A.Ellett
    Commented May 24, 2015 at 2:20

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