Is spelling “Colombia”, “Columbia” offensive to Colombian people?
Many places are named after Christopher Columbus, or in honor of peace (the Latin word “columba” means “dove” which is a symbol of peace). In Spanish, the explorer’s name is spelled Colón, so the nation in South America is spelled Colombia (notice the O’s in both). Also, certain characteristics of Spanish create inflections between O and U or O and UE sounds, so Spanish speakers are sensitive to this. (For example, in English, the difference between “woman” and “women” is very subtle, but is very important.) In English, we use the Latin spelling with the U, so places like the university, political capitals, etc are spelled Columbia (with the U). So, there are several reasons to spell the name correctly: (1) It avoids ambiguity. If you’re in New York City and you ask someone “Are you from Columbia or from Colombia?” they’re wondering if you’re asking if they’re a student at Columbia University or if they’re from the nation of Colombia in South America. (2) Cultural or linguistic sensiti
As far as I know Columbia (I’m not from the usa) is a place on the usa, they speak english obviously. Colombia is a south american country where spanish is spoken. They aren’t the same. Some people like to misspell words to annoy others. Maybe she tought you were doing it at purpose and that’s why she got offended.
