Colorado

[Rick Mc Callister]

>[Ed Selleslagh]
>I'm not a specialist, but I would doubt 'colorado' is any more poetical
>than the other words. 'Bermejo' might be.

>BTW I'm still trying to understand the difference between a Río Tinto and a
>Río Colorado. Maybe 'tinto' refers to the water color (like in 'vino tinto'
>= red wine) and 'colorado' to the general aspect of the river bed (e.g. the
>Grand Canyon)?

>As to the Partido Colorado: I GUESS Partido Rojo would make it look like
>Communist or so.

	There is a Partido Colorado in both Uruguay and Paraguay. They're
both main-stream parties rooted in 19th century Liberalism. Ideologically,
they correspond to the US Democratic Party, Blair's version of the Labour
Party and the German Free Democrats.
	The "Partido Rojo", of course, is the Communist Party. And the
(obsolete) US term "pinko", is "rojillo"
	I don't see <<colorado>> as a poetic term either. It very common
among peasants.
	<<Bermejo>> is archaic and associated with the language of El poema
del mi/o Cid and other medieval works. There is, however, a R/io Bermejo in
Argentina but it may be from Portuguese <<vermelho>>
	<<Tinto>> is used for "red wine" in wine-drinking countries but for
"black coffee" in several tropical countries. In Costa Rica people ask
guests "¿Le provoca un tinto?" when they drop in.
	I heard tinto "dark liquid", tinte "dye, tint" and tinta "ink"
often confused.
	In any case, I believe the name and color of the famous Ri/o Tinto
of Spain is due to mineral deposits in the water rather than mud --which is
characteristic of the many R/ios Colorados

Rick Mc Callister
W-1634
Mississippi University for Women
Columbus MS 39701