Mysteries of vernacular: Earwig - Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough
Reviewer: Jessica Ruby

Mysteries of vernacular: Earwig, an insect, generally classified within the order dermaptera. The common name of the insects we know as earwigs is exactly that, common, and is based mainly in folklore. It's rumored that these so-called earwigs crawl into your ear at night and tunnel into your brain, but this is false. Sure, an earwig may, on rare occasion, climb into the ear of an unsuspecting sleeper, but, really, who can blame them?

Ear canals are warm and dark, the perfect home for a creepy-crawly like this one. The important thing to remember is that even if an earwig found its way into your ear, it would never eat through your eardrum. Despite the erroneous origins of these trumped-up folk tales, they've been in place a long time. The word earwig comes from the Old English word earwicga, a compound of ear, meaning ear, of course, and wigca.

Scholars believe that wigca shares a root with words like wiggle and wag, and that it most likely referred to a creature that moves quickly. Unfortunately for this innocent little insect, even its scientific name gives it a bad rap. Because of the large, pencil-like cerci on the tail and of its abdomen, scientists associate earwigs with a pair of scissors, calling them forficula auricularia, literally little scissors of the ear.