The word "barbecue" evolved into the abbreviation "BBQ" through common usage and shortening over time.
The origin of the word "barbecue" itself traces back to the indigenous people of the Caribbean. The Spanish adopted the word barbacoa from the Taíno people, who inhabited areas like Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Cuba. Barbacoa referred to a method of slow-cooking meat over an open flame on a wooden framework.
Over time, the word spread and evolved. The shortening to "BBQ" is a natural linguistic process. Similar to how "television" became "TV," "barbecue" was shortened to "BBQ" for brevity and ease of use, particularly in informal contexts like advertising, restaurant names, and casual conversation. The initial "B" is simply repeated to represent the first syllable of the word. There's no single defining moment when this happened; it was a gradual adoption.
