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Fri, Jan 11 2013 08:45:15

Pea bugs, Slaters & Monkey Pigs

The many names of woodlice.

  1. MooseAllain
    Moose Allain@MooseAllain
    Last night I tweeted about woodlice. Following a brief discussion about how they give birth, I was flooded with regional names for them.
    Mon, Nov 05 2012 02:03:07
  2. MooseAllain
    Moose Allain@MooseAllain
    These were a wonderful combination of local dialect names, family names for them and I suspect a few made up examples.
    Mon, Nov 05 2012 02:04:22
  3. MooseAllain
    Moose Allain@MooseAllain
    There is definitely a relationship between woodlice and food - they are quite often given cheese-related names. Also possibly medicinal.
    Mon, Nov 05 2012 02:05:06
  4. MooseAllain
    Moose Allain@MooseAllain
    I loved the fact that they seem to play an important part in people's childhoods, many of the names reflecting that.
    Mon, Nov 05 2012 02:05:55
  5. It started like this…
  6. MooseAllain
    Moose Allain@MooseAllain
    My son declared that he has seen a woodlouse give birth to a tiny pale baby woodlouse on a boy’s hand. I cast doubt on the likelihood.
    Sun, Nov 04 2012 12:29:18
  7. MooseAllain
    Moose Allain@MooseAllain
    He said he’d witnessed the other end of life too, but we didn’t get that far.
    Sun, Nov 04 2012 12:30:34
  8. MooseAllain
    Moose Allain@MooseAllain
    “Come on push, nearly there now… that’s it… good girl… No! DON’T ROLL INTO A BALL, NOT NOW!”
    Sun, Nov 04 2012 12:36:50
  9. I_am_Miranda
    Miranda@I_am_Miranda
    @MooseAllain It is true. I spent most of my childhood poking round with woodlice instead of learning to ride a bike like a normal child.
    Sun, Nov 04 2012 12:41:52
  10. iamHews
    Matt @iamHews
    @MooseAllain I can attest to this. Was a seasoned woodlouse hunter in my youth, always nice to watch a 'hatching'.
    Sun, Nov 04 2012 12:43:36
  11. MooseAllain
    Moose Allain@MooseAllain
    I love twitter for this, that there are people who spent a lot of time with woodlice in their childhoods, sharing their enthusiasm.
    Sun, Nov 04 2012 12:48:33
  12. Thekjhandbook
    Keith Jones@Thekjhandbook
    @MooseAllain the wife calls wood lice "Flumps", I think it's a Hastings thing.
    Sun, Nov 04 2012 13:30:19
  13. lizzydripping
    ladybird ladybird@lizzydripping
    @speedina @MooseAllain a family i know called them edwoods! #woodlice
    Sun, Nov 04 2012 13:34:44
  14. PeteAusten
    Pete Austen@PeteAusten
    @MooseAllain My Ex and her family all call woodlice chiselbobs. Must be a Hampshire thing.
    Sun, Nov 04 2012 13:31:30
  15. zzzzoe
    Zoe@zzzzoe
    @MooseAllain @LittleHen33 @AlexaDWilson I'm on Tyneside too - always called them Dampers
    Sun, Nov 04 2012 13:30:47
  16. BearNecessitude
    D H Chitson@BearNecessitude
    @MooseAllain Woodpigs in Warwickshire.
    Sun, Nov 04 2012 13:34:43
  17. Bingleboo
    C Cret@Bingleboo
    @MooseAllain they're curlybobs.
    Sun, Nov 04 2012 13:32:00
  18. KenrisMacLeod
    Kenris MacLeod@KenrisMacLeod
    @MooseAllain My small daughter has two pet woodlice that run a hotel in our garden. Mr Pickles mans reception and Mr Onions is the bell boy.
    Sun, Nov 04 2012 13:03:37
  19. Pilky4
    Mike Pilkington@Pilky4
    @Fi79 @MooseAllain My Mrs calls wood lice "Sallys". She fancies me so I always knew she was a bit mental!!
    Sun, Nov 04 2012 13:35:47
  20. lizzydripping
    ladybird ladybird@lizzydripping
    @speedina @MooseAllain and even better we call them timberpigs #woodlice
    Sun, Nov 04 2012 13:35:10
  21. theconsulargirl
    Claire Longhurst@theconsulargirl
    @MooseAllain My brother designed a Heath-Robinson-style Woodlouse-cleaning machine :-)
    Sun, Nov 04 2012 13:01:15
  22. lezwilki
    les wilkins, @lezwilki
    @BluntOMFG @KirstyBurge @Josh_Blackman @MooseAllain We used to call them monkey pigs but no idea why
    Sun, Nov 04 2012 13:35:02
  23. nettienoggins
    noggins @nettienoggins
    @MooseAllain in Norfolk, woodlice are known as pishamares. Strange the Norfolk dialect
    Sun, Nov 04 2012 13:30:01
  24. MissisG
    Katy@MissisG
    @MooseAllain wood lice are potato bugs in our house. my kids were horrified to hear I used to eat them to gross my sisters out as a kid o_O
    Sun, Nov 04 2012 13:29:53
  25. speedina
    Emily Speed@speedina
    Also granny greys. My sister and I used to call them armadillos. I think we had a valid point. #woodlice @MooseAllain
    Sun, Nov 04 2012 13:30:05

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Moose Allain

Artist & Illustrator. Dogsbody, but human head. Peripheral visionary. Pest.

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