A misspelling of 'Caribbean', relating to the Caribbean Sea region and its islands. The correct spelling refers to the tropical region of the Americas.
Intended to be 'Caribbean' from Spanish 'Caribe', the name of indigenous people encountered by Columbus. 'Caribe' possibly meant 'brave' or 'fierce' in the native language, later corrupted through colonial linguistic transmission.
This common misspelling reveals how challenging English can be - the double 'b' in Caribbean doesn't match the pronunciation, making the incorrect single 'b' version seem logical. It's a perfect example of spelling versus phonetic intuition.
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