Why do we say guagua in Cuba?

In Cuba, the term"guagua" It is used to refer to motor vehicles that provide passenger transportation services. It is believed that it is a 100% Cuban word and its use dates back to the 19th century, but there are different versions about its origin.

One of them refers to English, suggesting thatbaby It is a phonetic adaptation of the word 'waggon'which means wagon, for thosewagons which were used in the late 18th and early 19th centuries to transport passengers in horse-drawn carriages.

However, public transportation in Cuba began to develop in 1839, in Havana. These animal-drawn buses were soon replaced by the tram.

Another of the most frequent versions about the origin of the word "guagua" indicates that it comes from the brand of an American company, the "Wa & Wa Co. Inc." (Washington, Walton, and Company Incorporated).

It is believed that this was the first factory to export buses to Cuba. However, as indicated by D. Jácome on the websiteFacebook Cuba in Memory, the term "guagua" was already used to refer to public transportation long before the arrival of this company to the island.

In the "Provincial Dictionary of Cuban Voices" ofMr. Esteban Pichardo, published in 1849, there is a definition of "guagua" that confirms its use to designate a type of car used in Havana to go to the suburbs of the city for a very economical price.

This shows that the termbaby It was already in common use to refer to a means of transportation in Cuba since the 19th century.

"Guagua" was also associated with free transportation

Other publications from the colonial era mention the use of the word "guagua" in relation to free transportation. This line refers to Latin America, to the Quechua communities where the term "wáwa" means child.

In Peru there was a period when it was ordered that shows and public transportation be free for children under six years of age. If an adult did not pay, it was said that they went "de guagua", that is, for free. The expression spread to other countries little by little.

During that time in Cuba, civil and military construction workers used to walk from their homes to their workplaces because their salaries did not allow them to pay for transportation.

Apparently the government issued an official order not to charge them for the fare. They told the owners of the public transportation companies that they had the obligation to "give them a ride" to workers on military defense works, that is, for free.

It is believed that since then Havana residents adopted this name for public transportation and little by little it remained in the colloquial language of Cubans.

The Cuban bus reached the Canary Islands

The term"guagua" to name public transportation took root in the emigrants from the Canary Islands in Cuba and upon their return to their homeland they took it with them.

TheCanary Academy of Language recognizes that this word is of Cuban origin because in the first two decades of the 20th century the term "guagua" is not registered in the vocabularies of Spanish territory.

Although there are various theories about theorigin of the word guagua, historical evidence supports its use and popularity in Cuba since the 19th century, as well as its roots in Cuban and Canarian culture, as a term used to refer to buses.

Regarding public transportation, Cubans have created our ownbus models and they have had various names such as the P (1,2,3,4,5...), the Camel, the Guarandinga, or the Charangón, but despite that the term that is generally used isbaby.

It is up to the reader to choose what they think is the most appropriate origin for this term, although I think it is important to remember that it is something that not even theRoyal Spanish Academy has been able to give you a definitive answer.