The Italian word ponte means “bridge,” as in the Ponte Vecchio of Florence. In Italian, ponte now also denotes the Monday or Friday added to make for a long weekend. Other languages, such as German and Spanish, also make a similar use of their words meaning “bridge.” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of ““Ponte” Means a Bridge Day for a Long Weekend in Italian”
In Italian, the word ponte means bridge, like the ponte vecchio, the old bridge.
But I didn’t know this until I was reading Gaston Doran’s book, Lingo, that ponte in Italian, literally bridge, also means a Monday or Friday taken off so as to connect a public holiday to a weekend.
Oh, I think I’ve actually heard of that in English.
Really? A bridge day?
A bridge day. I don’t know how widespread it is, but I believe that I’ve heard of this.
Huh. Might as well toss in another day there.
Toss in another day. Particularly if people are just going to skip out anyway.
Right.
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In French, the word for bridge, “le pont,” is used the same way. If a holiday falls on a Thursday, for example, you can “faire le pont” (make a bridge) by taking Friday off for an extra long weekend.