For many years, I have refused to use the term "Indian" to describe Native Americans as it is offensive. Recently, when I called out someone for using the derogatory term, the person told me, with an overweening attitude, that not only was it NOT offensive, but, in fact, was complimentary, because the word is derived from the Spanish phrase "gente di dios" (people of God).
I reacted by asking, "Are you out of your mind?" She answered, "I've read it several different places." Because of her arrogance, I answered, with great irritation, "Don't you know that paper will hold still for anything to be printed on it; it doesn't mean it's true?"
I offered to bet that I was right, with no success.
I just received the following from one of my favorite websites Grammarphobia. Of course I forwarded the article to her.
FROM GRAMMARPHOBIA:
Q: I came across a website that says the use of the word “Indian” for a Native American is derived from the Spanish phrase Gente de Dios. Whaddya think?
A: Didn’t your mother tell you not to believe everything you see on the Web?
The website of La Prensa, a weekly newspaper for Latinos in the Midwest, does indeed say the term “Indian” is derived from that Spanish phrase for People of God.
A “Latino History” page on the site says Gente de Dios was later shorted to en Dios, then endios, and finally “Indian.”
“Yes, ‘Indian’ they were called Indians,” La Prensa adds, “not because they were thought to live in India but because they were children of God.”
As you suspect, that etymology is nonsense—or as one would say in Spanish, una tontería.
The truth, as you were undoubtedly taught in school, is that Christopher Columbus did indeed think he’d reached India when he landed in the Americas and that he referred to the natives as “Indians” in Spanish.
In the diary of his first voyage to the Americas, which Columbus wrote in 15th-century Spanish, he repeatedly referred to the indigenous population as indios and yndios.
Here’s a modern Spanish version of the diary in which he describes the islands he visited in the region as estas islas de India (these islands of India).
As the Oxford English Dictionary explains, the use of the term “Indian” for the indigenous people of the Americas is the result of “Columbus’s assumption that, on reaching America, he had reached the east coast of India.”
The word “Indian” in this sense first showed up in English, according to OED citations, in the mid-16th century.
The earliest reference in the OED is from A Treatyse of the Newe India With Other New Founde Landes and Islandes (1553).
Here’s the citation from Richard Eden’s translation of a work by the German cartographer Sebastian Münster: “They saw certayn Indians gatheringe shel fyshes by the sea bankes.”
Not surprisingly, the adjective “Indian” in reference to the people of India entered English a lot earlier—in the late 1300s, and the noun “Indian” in that sense first showed up around 1400, according to OED citations.
Although English adapted the adjective and noun “Indian” from the Anglo-Norman and Middle French indien, the dictionary notes, the geographic name “India” is a direct borrowing from Latin and showed up centuries earlier.
The OED has two Early Old English citations from History Against the Pagans, a work by Paulus Orosius, a church historian who lived in the late 4th and early 5th centuries.
We won’t go through La Prensa’s “Latin History” page point by point, but we should note one other questionable statement: “Christopher Columbus, by the way, was not his real name—it was Cristóbal Colón.”
Columbus, who made four voyages to the New World under the auspices of the Spanish Crown, was born Cristoforo Colombo on Oct. 31, 1451, in the Republic of Genoa, now part of modern Italy.
“Christopher Columbus” is an Anglicized version of his name in Latin, Christophorus Columbus. Cristóbal Colón is the Spanish version of his name and Cristóvão Colombo is the Portuguese version.
Columbus was a man of the world who spoke all those languages. We imagine that he referred to himself by the name used in whichever language he was speaking.
In his diary, for example, Columbus writes his name in the Spanish of his time: almirante don x’val Colón (almirante is Spanish for “admiral” and “x” is short for Cristo, or “Christ”).
Columbus, by the way, didn’t invent the use of “x” as an abbreviation for “Christ.” This convention is more than a thousand years old, as we’ve written on our blog.
In a posting six years ago, we noted that the practice grew out of Greek, in which “Christ” begins with the letter “chi,” or “X.” In Greek letters it’s spelled ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ.
After writing the NRA (Not Really Admiring) BLOG article, I asked my clever friend Patty and others to supply me with other acronyms ridiculing the NRA. ONLY Patty is willing to be quoted!
NADA RUEGERS ALLOWED
NEIN REGULATED ARSENAL
NONSENSICAL REDNECK ASSES
NOTHING RATIONAL ALLOWED
NOT RATIONAL ADULTS
NO RIFLES ALLOWED
NATIONAL REPUBLICAN ASSOCIATES
NOT RATIONAL ANYTIME
NO RATIONAL ADULTS
NEUROLOGICALLY RETARDED AGGRESSORS
NEUROTIC REACTIONARY AMMO-HOLES
NAZI RETARDED A-HOLES
How many NRA members does it take to screw in a light bulb? It doesn't matter; they'll still be in the dark!
I heard that joke about LIBERALS, so I just switched it around to fit the NUTCASE ROBOTIC APPROVERS!
I've been reading Jon Mikolashek's biography of General Mark Clark. I can't hear Mark Clark's name without thinking of the actress Joan Van Ark's less famous brother MARK CLARK VAN ARK! I heard Joan interviewed many years ago and she mentioned that her brother was named for Mark Clark; her father had served under General Clark in
World War II.
I have written other articles about odd names (click here). My all-time favorite is DWARD FARQUAHAR who was Dodie Goodman's dance teacher in Columbus, Ohio. My friend Patty's favorite is: FERN TEESEETLE ARNOLD who was the aunt of Patty's friend Linda.
Yesterday, at Kroger, I saw an elderly man sitting on a cart used by handicapped people. I noticed his hat, and I thought the hat had a military service-related insignia on it. I was going to thank him for his service to our country. As I got closer, I saw that it was an NRA logo instead, and I backed away. The man noticed that I was looking at his hat and that I had backed away.
He said, "You didn't like me when you saw that", as he pointed to his hat. I answered, "I wouldn't judge anyone without knowing him." He said, "A lot of people hate the NRA." I asked, "Really? I'm surprised, especially around here." He said, "I hear it from people all the time." I said, "It doesn't mean they hate you; it means they dislike what the NRA leaders are saying." Although I was surprised, I was nevertheless pleased to learn that others--especially local people--had expressed to him their dislike of the NRA.
I said, "I thought it was a military insignia on your hat and I was going to thank you for your service." He answered, "Well, I had 31 years in the service." I started to take his hand to shake hands but part of his hand was missing. He offered his other hand to me and I said, "Thank you for your service, sir; you should be wearing a hat showing your service." He said, "They didn't give me a free one!" (That was funny!) I answered, "I'll get one for you!"
I don't think it's appropriate to verbally attack a stranger and I understand that polls show that the majority of the members of the NRA disagree with Mr. LaPierre, who is nothing more than a shill for weapons manufacturers. A number of weapons barons are members of the Governing Board of the NRA, and they obviously serve up LaPierre as their whipping boy! Actually, it's very brilliant of them: they must have learned the tactic to hide from the media and Congress from the cigarette producers who were pilloried before Congress.
I know several NRA members who agree with me on issues relating to gun control. One, who is a hunter, told me that he has written to, e-mailed, and called Mr. LaPierre to tell him that he doesn't believe in using military equipment to kill a deer.
On my friend Arminta's Facebook page, several friends have responded to my request to name favorite Oscar picks.
ARMINTA's PICKS:
PICTURE: Lincoln
ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis (although she hopes for Bradley Cooper)
ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain
SUPPORTING: Philip Seymour Hoffman
SUPPORTING: Anne Hathaway
DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg
NADINE's PICKS:
PICTURE: Silver Linings Playbook
ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis
ACTRESS: Jennifer Lawrence
SUPPORTING: Robert DeNiro
SUPPORTING: Anne Hathaway
DIRECTOR: David Russell
CASSIE's PICKS:
PICTURE: Argo
ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis
ACTRESS: Emmanuelle Riva
SUPPORTING: Robert DeNiro
DIRECTOR: Ang Lee
MY PICKS:
PICTURE: Argo
ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis
ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain
SUPPORTING: Tommy Lee Jones
SUPPORTING: Anne Hathaway
DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg
Those are my picks on the ones I think WILL win; here's my list of the ones I would LIKE to see win:
WISH PICKS:
PICTURE: Lincoln
ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis
ACTRESS: Jennifer Lawrence
SUPPORTING: Philip Seymour Hoffman
SUPPORTING: Amy Adams
DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg
After a long thread, another friend wrote: "Blehhhhh, I suppose you're having Oscar-watching parties." I replied that I had had Oscar parties in the past!
I wrote: "How in the Hell can they logically nominate films without the Directors? They did that to Barbra back in the day and Spielberg was egregiously bypassed until he directed what they considered "mature" -- Schindler's List! Why aren't The Master and Paul Thomas Anderson on the list, along with Affleck, Tarantino, and Bigelow? Why are there more than 5 films nominated when it is limited to 5 nominees in other categories? It's to appease the corporations and the mega-grossing films! I hated Les Miserables and Anne Hathaway, but adored Jackman. It was so classy of Day-Lewis to praise Phoenix at other awards; I didn't care for Watts. I thought the best screenplay should go to Zero Dark Thirty."
No, I'm not having a party because I'm CRANKY!
My friend Patty said that she and her friend Linda invented karaoke in the late 1950s in Indiana. She said that she and Linda sang and acted out songs for hours at a time. She said they even acted out instrumentals! They loved "Stranger On The Shore", "Autumn Leaves", "Poor People Of Paris" and today she wrote that she had spoken to Linda and told her about our conversation and Linda asked if Patty had told me about their signature number "Behind The Green Door". I wrote back, "Jim Lowe; I am so OLD!"
I wrote back and told her that while she and her friend in Indianapolis were doing that, my fellow Elvis fanatics in Bloomingburg were doing the same thing.
I wrote to Patty: "As my Algebra teacher Mr. White used to tell us: "Great minds run in the same channel OR fools think alike!"
