Canal de La Mancha... the English Channel

Question

As I was skimming through my dictionary I noticed that the entry for the English Channel is Canal de la Mancha. I think this translates literally as channel of the stain. This made me wonder why the English Channel would be called Channel of the Stain.

I can think of a couple of possibilities linked to the Spanish Armada. One possibility might be the stain of the embarrassment of being decisively defeated. Another might be an embarrassment at the hubris of ever having made the attempt.

But, it may not be either of these things and have originated in an entirely different way.

Does anybody know?

I think the name is older than the Armada. - annierats, Jul 3, 2012

Answer 1

La Manche in French.

The arm/ sleeve of the Atlantic, look at the satellite picture, it does look like an arm streching up north.

I think the name is very old, probably from Roman times, but that is just a guess..

True enough but they wouldn't have seen it in this perspective way back then would they? - LovesBirds, Jul 3, 2012

Answer 2

Wikipedia says:

El canal de la Mancha (en inglés: English Channel, literalmente «canal inglés»; en francés: La Manche, «La Manga») es el brazo de mar del océano Atlántico que lo comunica con el mar del Norte, al oeste de Europa, y separa el noroeste de Francia de la isla de Gran Bretaña. El nombre no es más que una mala traducción del francés, ya que La Manche significa realmente 'La Manga', puesto que es la misma palabra que se emplea para designar a la parte de la camisa dentro de la cual se mete el brazo.

So it might be a mis-translation of La Manga... the sleeve? strange... Thanks - LovesBirds, Jul 3, 2012