Mais où est donc Ornicar ?

The French relative pronoun où (where) is used because it sounds the same as ou (or);[6] the presence of a grave accent differentiates their orthography.

[7] Est, a third-person present tense form of the verb être (to be), is used instead of the conjunction et (and); again, in this context, they are pronounced similarly.

[10][15] According to the JPL Small-Body Database, the naming "honor[ed] French teachers around the world" and "provides one answer to [the] question" of where to find Ornicar.

[15] In 2002, Gérald Stehr and Willi Glasauer published a children's book titled Mais où est donc Ornicar?

[16] In 2005, the Quebec rock group Les Dales Hawerchuk released a song with the title "Mais où est donc Carnior ?".