[SpamCop-List] Re: Boca Raton translates as "mouth of the rat"

[Mike Easter]

Steven Maesslein wrote:
>Skiwi
>> FYI - Boca Raton translates as "mouth of the rat"   !!!!      :-)
>
> s/rat/mouse/
>
> Mouth of the rat would be Boca Ratá.

Scraped from a coupla' different places....


Contrary to popular myth, Boca Raton does NOT mean "mouth of the rat." In
fact, an exact literal translation remains elusive, except that the
Spanish name points back to Ponce de Leon, Hernando de Soto, and other
explorers of the southeast Florida coast.



 Q: Most people assume that Boca Raton means "Rat's Mouth", but
historians say that translation is not totally accurate. What is a more
likely meaning for Boca Raton's name?

A. Here's what the name means according to the Boca Raton Historical
Society:

"Boca (or mouth) often describes an inlet, while raton can mean a
"cowardly thief" in old Spanish terms. Thus, a possible translation
"thieves' inlet" could be explained by legends that describe Lake Boca
Raton as a haven for pirates.

"But stories of pirates in this area are merely romantic legends; the
inlet was not deep enough to allow the passage of ships until it was
dredged in the 1930's.

"The probable origin of our City's name is "Boca Ratones" an ancient
Spanish, geographical term for an inlet filled with jagged rocks or
coral. Such an inlet existed in Miami's Biscayne Bay area. In 1823 a map
maker was copying a Miami area map and confused the (more northern) inlet
with the one in Biscayne Bay, thus mistakenly labeling this area a Boca
Ratones."


-- 
Mike Easter
kibitzer, not SC admin