# Of Fat Virgins and the Mouths of Mice **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 29, 2000, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951 "2000-09-29T01:10:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951/1 "2000-09-29T01:10:07Z")
Why is **Virgin Gorda** , the isle in the Caribbean, named so? It means “Fat Virgin.” Did Columbus (or whoever) see a fat little native girl and name the place after her (on the assumption that said little girl was, in fact, a virgin)? And what about that city in Florida, **Boca Ratón**? Why is it named so? It means “Mouse Mouth.” I’m pretty sure it has _nothing_ to do with Disney… ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951/2 "2000-09-29T03:34:04Z")
As for Boca, the legend I always heard was that spanish settlers saw the mouth of some river there, where there were lots of rats, thus, Rat Mouth. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951/3 "2000-09-29T06:45:28Z")
WAG: The group of islands are called the Virgin Islands, probable meaning they were not inhabited. Virgen Gorda probably means the large Virgin (island) and my guess is chances are there is another one called the smaller or lesser Virgin (Island) nearby. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951/4 "2000-09-29T12:57:15Z")
“Fat Virgin and the Mouths of Mice” would make and excellent name for a band. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951/5 "2000-09-29T14:05:54Z")
and my roomie worked for the City. Boca Raton translates to “mouth of the rat”. When looking at a map of Boca, the inlet from the ocean looks like a rat’s mouth. And, FYI, it’s pronounced Boca Ra-TONE, not Ra-tawn. In case you care. What I’m really wondering about is the town of Climax, Michigan. How did THAT get it’s name? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951/6 "2000-09-29T14:55:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dogzilla \* > \*\*What I’m really wondering about is the town of Climax, Michigan. How did THAT get it’s name? 😉 \*\* Because Epiphany was already taken? 😃 Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Trout\_Mask\_Replica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Trout\_Mask\_Replica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trout_Mask_Replica)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951/7 "2000-09-29T15:18:57Z")
[Intercourse, PA.](http://www.mapquest.com/cgi-bin/ia_find?uid=u8d7ddycwctjd4ce%3Arslu15lzz&link=btwn%2Ftwn-map_results&SNVData=3mad3-0.fy%2528w72lar_%2529zznu41%253bah7-%253d%253aDr7dcyxgcfj%253aW%2513%253d%253a%2510F%253dw72lz8_%2529zznu4b_1.lq%25286&mouse_mode=move_icon&map.x=219&map.y=142) ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951/8 "2000-09-29T15:29:19Z")
For anyone in Newfoundland or knowledge thereof: RE: city/town/village of Joe Batt’s Arm Who is Joe Batt and what’s so important about his arm? (and Dildo Run Provincial Park? I saw it on a map! Really! Why the name?!?!) BTW, the above questions are mutually exclusive of each other! ---
**Author:** ![mountain\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@mountain\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mountain_man)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951/9 "2000-09-29T15:39:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Trout Mask Replica \* > \*\*[Intercourse, PA.](http://www.mapquest.com/cgi-bin/ia_find?uid=u8d7ddycwctjd4ce%3Arslu15lzz&link=btwn%2Ftwn-map_results&SNVData=3mad3-0.fy%2528w72lar_%2529zznu41%253bah7-%253d%253aDr7dcyxgcfj%253aW%2513%253d%253a%2510F%253dw72lz8_%2529zznu4b_1.lq%25286&mouse_mode=move_icon&map.x=219&map.y=142) \*\* Which is just NE of Paradise (on the same map.) ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951/10 "2000-09-29T20:27:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mountain man \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Trout Mask Replica \* > > \*\*[Intercourse, PA.](http://www.mapquest.com/cgi-bin/ia_find?uid=u8d7ddycwctjd4ce%3Arslu15lzz&link=btwn%2Ftwn-map_results&SNVData=3mad3-0.fy%2528w72lar_%2529zznu41%253bah7-%253d%253aDr7dcyxgcfj%253aW%2513%253d%253a%2510F%253dw72lz8_%2529zznu4b_1.lq%25286&mouse_mode=move_icon&map.x=219&map.y=142) \*\* > > Which is just NE of Paradise (on the same map.) \*\* And, IIRC from my years living in eastern PA, just SW of Bird-in-hand, PA. So, if you start with your Bird-in-hand, you can get to Paradise through Intercourse. Back off – I was a horny teenage boy when I first saw it on the map. 🙂 Sua ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951/11 "2000-09-29T20:42:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Virgin Gorda, or “Fat Virgin”, refers to a protruding mountain noted by Columbus on this second largest of the British Virgin Isles. Only ten miles long and two miles wide, the island is known for its yacht clubs, quiet coves, and safe anchorages for bareboats. ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951/12 "2000-09-29T20:46:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Boca Raton city, Palm Beach county, southeastern Florida, U.S. It lies just north of Fort Lauderdale on the Atlantic coast. The Boca Raton Inlet and its lakes were once mariners’ refuges, and boca de ratones, a Spanish nautical term meaning “mouse’s mouth,” appeared on early 16th-century maps and referred to hidden, sharp-pointed rocks that gnawed or fretted ships’ cables. ---
**Author:** ![etgaw1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed655f/32.png) [@etgaw1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etgaw1)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951/13 "2000-09-29T20:47:20Z")
and don’t forget Blue Ball, PA for those that can’t get to Intercourse and Paradise. God I love being a Pennsylvanian ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951/14 "2000-09-29T20:59:12Z")
Ok, answer me this one; what the the heck is a [Medicine Hat](http://www.city.medicine-hat.ab.ca/info.htm)? (as in the city in Alberta, Canada) Does it have anything to do with it’s nickname, “The Gas City”? ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951/15 "2000-09-29T22:55:17Z")
You’re really begging for a triple, aren’t you? From [britannica.com](http://britannica.com): > [@](#): > > Medicine Hat > > city, southeastern Alberta, Canada. It lies at the foot of the Cypress Hills, along the South Saskatchewan River, 164 miles (264 km) southeast of Calgary. It originated as a settlement around a North West Mounted Police post (1882) and a railroad construction camp (1883). The site, according to one legend, marks the spot in the river where a cowardly Cree medicine man lost his hat (saamis) after deserting his tribe and fleeing from Blackfoot warriors. Some people never learn. Sheesh!! ---
**Author:** ![Yeah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/dbc845/32.png) [@Yeah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeah)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951/16 "2000-09-29T22:56:27Z")
Many explorers named their discoveries after the day of the year they made the discovery. For example, wasn’t Christmas Island discovered on Christmas; and Asuncion, Paraguay discovered on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin (15 August)? Perhaps the Virgin Islands were discovered on the Feast of the Virgin of Los Angeles (the angles, not the city), 2 August. I don’t think the Spanish used “virgin” to mean “uninhabited.” ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951/17 "2000-09-29T23:58:31Z")
I want to know how St. Louis du Ha! Ha! in Quebec got its name. ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2000, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951/18 "2000-09-30T02:11:34Z")
but from [http://www.mrctemiscouata.gc.ca/louis.html](http://www.mrctemiscouata.gc.ca/louis.html) : > [@](#): > > Les pionniers de ce village, fondé en 1873, auraient poussé quelques “ah! ah!” d’admiration en découvrant, du haut d’une colline, le lac Témiscouata. Mais pourquoi la transformation de “ah! ah!” en “ha! ha!”? Sans doute une erreur de scribe sanctionnée par l’usage. D’autre part, le vieux mot “ha! ha!” (en indien Hescuewaska) désigne quelque chose d’inattendu. There you have it. ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2000, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951/19 "2000-09-30T02:25:49Z")
The URL won’t open, even though I double checked it. You’ll just have to trust me I guess. As an aside, for those few of you not too familiar with French, the quote basically says that the first settlers uttered an admiring “ah! ah!” when they first saw, from the top of a hill, the majestic beauty of the Temiscouata river and that the “ah! ah!” eventually became “ha! ha!” (possibly due to a clerical error). It goes on to say that (as a possible alternative explanation?) “ha! ha!” was used in the old days by members of the Hescuewaska tribe to describe something unexpected. Residents of St-Louis-du-ha!-ha! are called Louisiens and Louisiennes. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2000, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951/20 "2000-09-30T04:10:08Z")
Since we’re discussing sexually suggestive town names, here’s a few I’ve collected over the years. In addition to Intercourse, PA there are: Condom, France Dildo, Newfoundland French Lick, IN Knob Lick, MO KY Laid, Scotland Muff, Ireland Round Bottom, OH Tongue, Scotland Twatt, Orkney Is., Scotland In addition, I’ve heard that there’s a place called Cocks in Cornwall, but it’s not on my road atlas of Great Britain nor in the [GEONet database](http://164.214.2.59/gns/html/index.html). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-fat-virgins-and-the-mouths-of-mice/34951.md?page=2)