(Humans used those in antiquity, too.)Īnguilla, from the French for “eel.” Antigua, from the Spanish for “ancient.” Aruba, possibly from the Spanish phrase “ora huba,” or “there was gold” (though there wasn’t any). Boom, a half a millennium later their conquests would magically appear first in Fodor’s guidebooks. So it was with impressive foresight that when European slavers and imperialists descended upon the Caribbean, the more clever tagged their insular discoveries with “A” names (ignoring whatever the natives were already calling them, of course).
It’s a slick trick that rose to fame back in classical antiquity (or whenever it is was people used phone books): Tack on an “A” to the beginning of your company’s name so it’s the first to pop up in the yellow pages.Īn episode of “Cheers” even propagated the scam (deep cut alert - AAAA Painting? Gots to be good).
