Happy Columbus Day (:

[Jessica]

and Happy Thanksgiving to the Canadians

[laepelba]

De acuerdo!!

[Jessica]

some states don't celebrate it...22 states I believe. some school are still remaining open. (mine's closed of course)

[laepelba]

Me too!

[Ferlas]

Yo todavía tengo clases. Mi escuela es abierta para el día.

[irmamar]

What does "columbus day" mean? Does it come from Colón?

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by irmamar

What does "columbus day" mean? Does it come from Colón?

Yes, but perhaps the other way round!

Columbus' name in English is actually an anglicized version of the Columbus birth name. According to most accounts, Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy, as Cristoforo Colombo, which is obviously much more similar to the English version than is the Spanish one.

In most of the major European languages, Columbus' name is similar to the Italian one: It's Christophe Colomb in French, Kristoffer Kolumbus in Swedish, Christoph Kolumbus in German and Christoffel Columbus in Dutch. So perhaps the question that should be asked is how Cristoforo Colombo ended up as Cristóbal Colón in his adopted country of Spain. (Sometimes his first name in Spanish is rendered as Cristóval, which is pronounced the same.) Unfortunately, the answer to that appears to be lost in history. Most historical accounts indicate that Colombo changed his name to Colón when he moved to Spain and became a citizen. The reasons remain unclear, although he most likely did it to make himself sound more Spanish, just as as many European immigrants to the early United States often anglicized their last names or changed them entirely. In other languages of the Iberian Peninsula, his name has characteristics of both the Spanish and Italian versions: Cristóvão Colombo in Portuguese and Cristofor Colom in Catalan.

(I copied this from the internet). By the way, very near me in Tenerife is Puerto Colón, the place where Columbus (sorry, Colón) set sail to reach America.

[irmamar]

About Colón origins there still a lot of things to say, since many places are competing for his place of birth. I know that Colón is called Columbus, that's because I asked if Columbus Day was related to Colón.

On the other side, if Colón were not Spainsh, I think that he could have changed his name into Palomo, for Palomo would be the correct word for Columbus.

I guess that Colombia comes from Columbus and colonización (even colonization) does from Colón.

I don't understand why his name is translated, from Colón to Columbus. It should be Colón, as he was known here (even if he adopted his name, this was his name).

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by irmamar

I guess that Colombia comes from Columbus and colonización (even colonization) does from Colón.

That is a very clever idea, but incorrect. Colony comes from Latin colonia, a farm, settlement (somewhere new).

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by Perikles

That is a very clever idea, but incorrect. Colony comes from Latin colonia, a farm, settlement (somewhere new).

You're right, I made a search and I have to admit it (but it's curious the coincidence )