Boca Raton

[marmoset]

I purposely didn't put an accent mark because this is the name of a city and it is written that way.

So, I have wondered the following for a very long time, as I grew up there.

I always heard fellow English-speaking Americans claim that this city's name translates to "mouth of the rat". But I never got around to asking a competent native speaker of Spanish.

So, what do you say? Is "mouth of the rat" an accurate translation. I've suspected in the past that perhaps, "mouse mouth" is more accurate.

Con gracias anticipadas.

[Perikles]

Well, Wiki says

the Spanish word boca meaning inlet and ratón being a Spanish nautical term describing rocks that gnawed at a ship's cable. Another explanation is that it refers metaphorically to a pirate's cove.

[marmoset]

Gracias.
I should have googled/wiki'd it first.

¿Pero qué piensan los nativos hispanohablantes? ¿Al oír "boca raton" se piensan en "mouse mouth"? ¿Inlet with sharp rocks? ¿Pirates' cove?

¿Les consideran ignorantes las personas que no hablan español y dicen que la traducción es "mouth of the rat"?

Thanks,

[Don José]

Originally Posted by marmoset

¿Pero qué piensan los nativos hispanohablantes?

I had never heard about that city. I didn't know either that nautical meaning for "ratón".

¿Al oír "boca ratón" se piensan en "mouse mouth"?

Sí, al menos eso es lo que yo había pensado antes de leer el mensaje de Perikles.

I've suspected in the past that perhaps, "mouse mouth" is more accurate.

Yes, rat=rata; mouse=ratón.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

I'm used to not thinking much of place names, as many can be so arbitrary.

Place names can be so arbitrarily given, that I very rarely investigate about their origins.
When I heard Boca Ratón for the first time a few years ago, I guessed "boca" was a nautical term, although I never tried to look for its meaning or description.
"Ratón" for me could either be because of the shape of the place, a nickname given by a boat captain or a pirate, some codename or sign for other navigators to spot... or anything else, as I would have never guessed that "ratón" has also a specific nautical meaning.