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Re: Col[o/u]mbia

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Posted by Andres (205.188.208.137) on December 15, 2002 at 11:54:26:

In Reply to: Re: Col[o/u]mbia posted by KW on December 14, 2002 at 18:29:05:

: : : Please don't take this the wrong way, but I would have thought since your wife is from ColOmbia, that you would have known that Colombian is spelled with an O, not spelled with a U like "Columbian" (a 'U' is the spelling for Columbia Pictures and Columbia University, not for Colombia the country). It always surprises me how often this word is spelled incorrectly by people in the US ;-)

: : Well, etymologically speaking, "Colombia" comes from Spanish explorer Christopher *Columbus*, I imagine. Since we gringos are taught that he is the discoverer of the new world (after Lief Ericson (sp?) it turns out), and we are taught that his name is spelled with a 'U', not an 'O', it's only natural that we misspell it. Either that or some "Columbian" misspelled it at some point and it became "Colombia". No? Curious, and once guilty as well.
: :
: : Thanks for keeping us informed.

: : -Olaf

: In fact, in Spanish (at least in Spain, where I lived for 4 years), Christopher Columbus is referred to as "Cristobal Colon". I'm not sure how/where the name 'Columbus' originated (perhaps in a similar manner as "Spain" was invented for "Espana"....???)

Sawyer, are you taking all this down? Sorry about the history lesson, but in all this, I forgot the original question. WHAT was the topic of your question again? To avoid another history saga, you might want to be careful w/your spelling this time 10-4?

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: : : : Please don't take this the wrong way, but I would have thought since your wife is from ColOmbia, that you would have known that Colombian is spelled with an O, not spelled with a U like "Columbian" (a 'U' is the spelling for Columbia Pictures and Columbia University, not for Colombia the country). It always surprises me how often this word is spelled incorrectly by people in the US ;-) : : : Well, etymologically speaking, "Colombia" comes from Spanish explorer Christopher *Columbus*, I imagine. Since we gringos are taught that he is the discoverer of the new world (after Lief Ericson (sp?) it turns out), and we are taught that his name is spelled with a 'U', not an 'O', it's only natural that we misspell it. Either that or some "Columbian" misspelled it at some point and it became "Colombia". No? Curious, and once guilty as well. : : : : : : Thanks for keeping us informed. : : : -Olaf : : In fact, in Spanish (at least in Spain, where I lived for 4 years), Christopher Columbus is referred to as "Cristobal Colon". I'm not sure how/where the name 'Columbus' originated (perhaps in a similar manner as "Spain" was invented for "Espana"....???) : : Sawyer, are you taking all this down? Sorry about the history lesson, but in all this, I forgot the original question. WHAT was the topic of your question again? To avoid another history saga, you might want to be careful w/your spelling this time 10-4?

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