Spit.

Now, i'm not talking about spittle. I'm referring to the geographical term spit. Why is it so?

I can see Columbus now, having just scribed a fiddly area of the Washington coast, struggling to name the little dribbly bit which pokes out the top of the Olympic Mountain Range. He drools a little, loving his job of getting to name new and interesting geographical bits, and the ink illustrating the little hoicky section runs a little.

"Eureka! Spit!"

Indeed, some spits look as if a giant has stood on the coastline, hoicked a big loogie, and launched it out into the ocean.

Reminds me of the Dreamtime, where the story of a valley's creation would centre around a gigantic snake slithering across the land... that sort of thing... just with spit.