OUR
HISTORY
HOW CAYMAN ISLANDS GOT ITS NAME
T
he Cayman Islands was first sighted by European explorers on May 10, 1503, owing to a chance wind that blew Christopher Columbus’ ship off course.
On his fourth and final voyage to the New World, Columbus was en route to the island of Hispaniola (home to Haiti and the Dominican Republic), when his ship was thrust westward toward “two very small and low islands, full of tortoises (turtles), as was all the sea all about, insomuch that they looked like little rocks, for which reason these islands were called Las Tortugas.” Columbus named the islands after the turtles he saw in the waters around them. The two islands sighted were Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. A 1523 map showing all three Islands gave them the name Lagartos, meaning alligators or large lizards, but by 1526 the name Caymanos was being used. It is derived from the Carib Indian word for the marine crocodile, which is now known to have lived in the Islands. This name, or a variant, has been retained ever since. Thus, the word eventually developed into Cayman and adding the word Islands, we became the ‘Cayman Islands’.
WHO YA FA?
Caymanians have a unique dialogue where they utter their words in a slow fashion, especially when talking to their peers or family member. Here are a few of the sayings and meanings behind the words.
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CAYMANIAN
ENGLISH
Who you fa? Wha happen? I coming errectly Wha happen to unna? Who you for? Who ya daddeh Is? Bobo
Who’s your family? Hi or How are you? I’ll be there soon Whats up with you? Who is your mother? Who is your father? Pet name for a guy