US expressions

euclid

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I'm looking for US words for insects, specifically insects that crawl.

Over here, kids talk about "creepy-crawlies"

I have an idea that Americans might say something like:

Creeper-crawlers or
Creeper-crawlies or maybe
Creepy-crawlers
 

PeterL

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If you want to call them creepy-crawlies, then do so. That isn't a common term, but it is used.
 

Maryn

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We don't seem to use any form of creepy-crawl to refer to our bugs, at least not where I've lived (southwest, northeast, upper midwest). We most just call them bugs, unless we name the type, like spider or beetle. Or the specific beetle, like a jimmy bug. (We don't kill jimmy bugs at our house.)

Maryn, not good with spiders
 

DeleyanLee

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I've heard "creepy-crawlies" in the Mid-west, but it's uncommon. "Bugs" is far more common.

And, FWIW, I've never heard of a "jimmy-bug".
 

Chris P

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Creepy crawlies isn't used much, but people will know what you mean. "Bugs" is probably the most common. There are a variety of names for specific insects, and they vary by region.
 

ether

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Seconding "bugs." Creepy-crawlies would get your point across, but it sounds a lot more like something a little kid would say. I'm not sure I've ever heard an adult say it in a serious manner.

FYI, Creepy-crawlers are actually an older (although I think they still sell them) 'bug oven' for kids where you put this goo into bug-shaped molds and bake them so you have little rubbery insects for play. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000ETRF3W/?tag=absolutewritedm-20
 

Wicked

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Bugs.
Creepy-crawlies works too, but isn't as commonly used.

The kids at school always ask me about my bugs. It's usually the adults who call them creepy-crawlies.
One of the teachers actually used that term in her class letter, thanking me for bringing in my "creepy-crawlies" for a presentation.
 

Linda Adams

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That could even be individual preferences. I don't think anyone in my family used the term "creepy crawly" when I was growing up. It was either bugs, or the bug name. Usually,the bug name. Moths, spiders, potato bugs, roaches (that we did abbreviate from the longer form), sow bugs, centipedes, butterflies, etc. If memory serves, the reason we were specific in what we called them was because my father identified them. He was a scientist (not in bugs or biology), so he was more specific. One time, when he was visiting Texas, he saw a roach there and had to ask, "Do you shoot it or spray it?"

As an adult, I did refer to a guy who gave me the creepy crawlies"--at the time, my best friend was jumping out of a relationship that was going nowhere and decided to get married to this guy a week later to get it over. Even the other men (we're talking soldiers) all described this guy in the same way I did. She divorced him two weeks later.
 

Puma

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We've used creepy crawlers (or crawlies) off and on for a number of years. It's descriptive. But we do also use the proper name for individual bugs. Creepy crawler is more of a generic term if you're not sure what you might encounter (or what might appear when you turn off the lights.) Puma
 

GeorgeK

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Bugs...of course the official definition of a bug is anything that crunches if you step on it...Ok, too little sleep for me and too much information for you...
 

GeorgeK

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no, creepy crawlers are gummie worms. They're a confection.
 

euclid

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Clarification: I'm actually looking for a familiar word for a millipede. Bug seems too short, somehow.

Thanks, everyone.
 

Midnight Star

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Usually we just call them "bugs" or by their names (spider, millipede, etc.). A millipede would probably just be called a millipede. But if it's a little kid talking, they might say something like "Ew! It's a giant worm with legs!" :D
 

Puma

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I think most people call them millipedes (or centipedes). You could try "thousand leg bug". Then there are the disgusting house centipedes (which I'm sure some people have referred to as creepy crawlers). Puma
 

Wicked

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You're talking about this kind of millipede, right? And not the tiny little oval shaped isopods that scurry around the edges of wet sidewalks?

p1010055g.jpg


A millipede is usually just called a millipede by most people. My bug-keeping buddies sometimes shorten the name to 'millies', or 'pedes'.

I dislike them referred to as 'pedes' because it's the same nickname used for centipedes, which is an entirely different creature.

Now if you are talking about the little oval shaped ones that scurry around under woodpiles, and wet sidewalks, those have a lot of names. Wood louse, pill bug, sow bug, rolly-polly, etc.
They roll up into a ball when disturbed, but so do millipedes.
 

Puma

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Hey Wicked - I'm no bug expert, but what's in the hands in the picture are what we've called centipedes. And there's another multi-legged critter that isn't a sowbug or a roly-poly - it's usually sort of a golden brown, much smaller than what we call centipedes, long front feelers, legs on each side about as long as the body is wide - that's what we call millipedes. What are they? Puma
 

euclid

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I checked this out in Google. Centipedes move fast. They are carnivorous and can have as many as 300 legs. There are 8,000 different species of centipede. They come in all sorts of colours.

Millipedes can have up to 750 legs. They eat rotting leaves and move slowly. I think I read that there are 10,000 species of millipede. They tend to be darker in colour than the centipede.

Anyway, it's all there is Google. I think Wicked's holding a heap of millipedes.
Centipedes can bite, btw!
 

Wicked

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Hey Wicked - I'm no bug expert, but what's in the hands in the picture are what we've called centipedes. And there's another multi-legged critter that isn't a sowbug or a roly-poly - it's usually sort of a golden brown, much smaller than what we call centipedes, long front feelers, legs on each side about as long as the body is wide - that's what we call millipedes. What are they? Puma

Those are my hands. And they are Archispirostreptus gigas, giant millipedes. :) They are rather slow, and have two pair of legs per body segment.

Rolly-pollies are isopods. They're related to millipedes. Both eat decaying plant matter, and other organic matter.

Centipedes are carnivorous, venomous, and very fast. They have one pair of legs per body segment.

Millipedes can come in some unusual shapes, sizes and colors. I'll see if I can find some good links.