I put my foot in my mouth this morning when I was talking to a former neighbor. I was really glad to run into him. Back when we were neighbors, I had a good relationship with his wife. We often shared tips about girly stuff and went for long walks together. They moved because she was eager to grow vegetables in “real soil,” as she used to say.

After I finished my speech about how cool she was and how much I missed her, he blurted out, “We got divorced.” (Oops.) “She met a guy online and made a French exit.”

Up to that point, I'd been feeling sorry for him. I apologized for my blunder, and it came across as genuine since we hadn’t seen each other in a few years. But then my mind started to drift, thinking about how the French express the same idea: filer à l’anglaise is the French equivalent of “making a French exit.” (A funny way of returning the favor to your neighbors.)

While he was taking digs at her, I completely zoned out. I could hear my inner voice reminding me that the Spanish expression mirrors the British one (irse a la francesa / make a French exit), which in turn made my mind wander to why neighboring countries usually get along so badly. Is it because history makes us hold grudges? Maybe, but that’s not always the case.

Then I suddenly noticed the striking similarity between Columbus’s surname in Spanish (Colón) and the verb “colonize.” Is there any connection, or is it just an unfortunate coincidence?

Then I wondered whether gentrification is a form of colonization. Soon after that, my neighbor coughed to get my attention. He was looking at me, expecting me to say something, but I had no idea what to say. Aware that asking him for his take on colonization or gentrification would've made me look like a freak, I just reached out my hand and said goodbye.

Back at home, I looked up the roots of the name Colón. It comes from the Italian word colombo, meaning "pigeon." That didn't help me get out of my discombobulation. Somewhere along the way, I had gone from divorce to colonization through pigeons, only to remember that even pigeons don’t really stay monogamous forever.

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