Am I A Scuban Or A Samerican Or What?

Matthew 24: 34 . . . Alpha Became Christ (A.B.C.)

Are you really a __________ (enter the country you live / were born in)?

Now add the letter “S” before the name of your country.

Some examples:

“Sarabia” (Arabia), “Sargentina” (Argentina), “Scanada” (Canada), “Scuba” (Cuba), “Siran” (Iran), “Soman” (Oman), “Sindia” (India), etc.. (you get the idea).

As you can see, a single letter can change times, places, identities, etc., quite drastically.

For me, I was born in Samerica, but I could have easily been a Scuban instead of a Cuban if whoever named that island would have pronounced it with an “s” before the “c”.

People could be going cuba diving off the Scaribbean island of Scuba, and would anyone today know the difference?

By adding a letter before what is familiar, a change to the meaning may occur, and perhaps even the sense of belonging or affiliation that some people hold in their hearts.

But the name of a country is simply a word someone came up with to point out one place from another, or named after someone, or meant to be like somewhere else, or many other reasons.

I'm stressing the point that a word by itself is meaningless unless the meaning itself is meaningful.

It is the meaning, not so much the word.

Some places on earth have been named after people.

Bolivia was named after Simón Bolívar.

Colombia was named after Christopher Columbus by Francisco de Miranda.

It is interesting that the United States' capital is found in a ten square mile territory called “District of Columbia”...and you could read how that idea developed over the years.

I wonder if the U.S.A. could have been called United States of Colombia (or Columbus), instead of named after Amerigo Vespucci.

Land / dirt / a location being named after someone may sound somewhat reasonable, but what was a place called before anyone stepped foot on it or others agreed to a place being called anything?

I'm sure without names or labels, confusion may occur, or mail would be sent to the wrong place, or people wouldn't know where they were going or coming from.

But why have the names of places caused people to think they are 'from' that place, or they 'are' attached to the name of a place?

When one gets down to the basics of logic regarding anything, one can see how illogical the manner meaning has been derived, or what people hold onto in their minds regarding words.

The psychology of etymology, how the meanings of words (whether meaningful or not) have people believing and perceiving, is quite peculiar.

The world has been built upon many strong and fragile etymological psychological structures, some meaningful for some,and  made meaningful for the rest...until a new idea, new word and new meaning is derived.

What was Cuba called before it was named Cuba?

One idea is that Christopher Columbus named the island after a town (Cuba) in Portugal, which is a town that is believed to have been named after the Arabic word for tomb (qubba); a tomb for Arabic saints, yet that word's previous meaning was 'tent of hides' (small tower).

Scholars have debated where exactly Christopher was from, and what his nationality was, besides the long-held claim he was Spanish.

The mainstream idea regarding Cuba's name is that it was named after one of two Taino words; 'cubao' (where fertile land is abundant) or 'coabana' (great place).

Regarding the etymology of the word 'cuba', in Portuguese it means 'large barrel storing [alcoholic] liquid' or 'large vat', with a similar meaning in Spanish (barrel).

It seems the Arabs brought their meaning into Spain during their occupation, while the previous occupiers of the Spanish peninsula had given it another meaning...likely derived from Latin.

The Latin etymology says 'cuba' is from Roman mythology for 'the goddess who protects the lying down of children'.

The verb form is the second-person singular present active imperative (a suggestion or command in real time) of 'cubō', which means to 'lay down', 'sleep', 'recline at a table', and 'sick / bedridden'....or telling someone to sit down or lay down.

It is interesting what comes about on a journey throughout etymology and what previous people have given meaning to words, places, and how these change with the winds of time.

Looking at the current understanding of words when related to Cuba, it could be said that beautiful and fertile island's people have been made to lay down for quite some time; since European conquest to revolution (further laying down).

Perhaps in the future there will be a political standing for Cuba[ns]...whatever that word actually makes or means to / about human beings living on an island in a certain place on this earth.

What is also quite interesting is who the patron saint of Cuba is.