where did the word Barbeque come from?

Hello Keith,

I had to dig through a few resources to get to the most accurate
origin of this word. There is still some small debate about it, but
the general consensus coins the term with the following beginnings:

Word Origins
"...original sense of barbecue is that of a raised, wooden (later
metal) framework used for either sleeping upon or curing meats. The
Indians of Guiana called it a 'babracot' and the Haitians a
'barbacoa'. The Spanish evidently acquired the Haitian word and it
came into English from the Spanish"
http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorb.htm

The 'Barbecue' Conjecture
"The Taino word for the wooden structure sounded to the explorers like
barbacoa."
http://www.cbbqa.com/history/conjecture/

To further explain the debate surrounding the term, you may want to
read this article. It touches up on the various spellings and origins:

The Family Table - To Barbeque
"...can agree on the word's spelling: barbeque, barbecue, bar-b-que,
bar-b-q, BBQ. (George Washington spelled it barbicue.)"
http://www.cuisinenet.com/cafe/four_tables/FamilyTable_002.html


This site below goes on to explain that:

"...the true origin is well authenticated, and the story is just
another example of folk etymology." It states this as well -

"This word seems also to have been applied by Europeans to sleeping
platforms raised off the ground to reduce the risk of snakebite,
presumably without the fire underneath." (With my overall attention
fixed on the word - 'seems'.)
http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-bar1.htm


In short - it is still a debate as to where the word gets it origin.
Since many of the explanations make sense and are feasible, it's up to
each of us to decide which we feel has the most credibility, until
someone can come up with a definitive link to close this chapter of
unsolved American History :-)


To help with this answer I searched Google for:

barbecue word origin
://www.google.com/search?q=barbecue+word+origin


I hope this answers helps. If you need further clarification, please
ask before rating this answer, and I'll do my best to offer more
insight.

Thanks for the very interesting question!
SgtCory

Excellent and quick response

I've always thought that this word, like many English words, came from
the French.

Barbeque is a vulgarization of the already pretty vulgar "Barbe a
Queue", or "Beard to Tail".  This derives from the fact that in order
to roast a pig, (or what have you) over a fire, one must impale it on
a stick (or what have you), from the "Beard" through "to" the "Tail".

Can't attribute this to any website, just to my French heritage...

Hello Mudshark,

According to numerous resources, this has been discredited. There is a
reference to this in the first link given. In short - it states :

"Barbecue has one false etymology that is commonly promulgated on the
Internet and elsewhere. It is claimed that it comes from the French
barbe (beard) and queue (tail); the idea being that an entire pig is
roasted, from head, or beard, to tail. This is simply not true."

I always thought it was French as well.

I wonder who coined the term 'mass confusion' :-)

SgtCory

Pardon moi.

I don't speak french, but I'll try my best to say:

'That's alright, all comments are welcome. The more the merrier!"

C'est bien, tous les commentaires sont bienvenu. Plus le plus joyeux!

Thanks-

SgtCory

Dear Keithyb,

You may like to notice that "barbeque" (which I would pronounce
bar-BECK) is a common spelling of the word but is nevertheless
actually a mistake for "barbecue".  I have two guesses as to how the
wrong spelling came about: either because the syllable "-cue" makes
the sound of the name of the letter Q (even though the letter itself
isn't in the word) or else from the frequent abbreviation of the word
(even before the days of text messaging!) to something like "barBQ",
where once again the sound of the name of the letter Q is being used.

But the dictionaries agree: it's "barbecue".

I trust this helps.

Carnegie

Hello again,

The online version of the Merriam-Webster dictionary also lists a
variant spelling as barbeque. Here is the site:

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary

I guess it's the Amercanization factor :-)

SgtCory

Dear Sgtcory,

I don't want to start an argument here (no: really - I don't) but I
was surprised, in fact, to find that more dictionaries don't quote
"barbeque" as a variant - simply because, as I suggested, it is:
people do indeed use this spelling.  But if this dictionary is like
others, its purpose will be to list word forms that are used, whether
or not they are preferred.  So I still think it is a mistake.  But
then, anyone is free to spell words how they like ...

Carnegie