Longtail
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the economic term, see The Long Tail.
In Bermuda, the Longtail is the common name for the White-tailed Tropicbird, Phaethon lepturus.
On the Isle of Man, longtail is a euphemism to describe a rat, as a relatively modern superstition has arisen that it is considered bad luck to mention this word. The origins of this superstition date to sea-taboos, where certain words and practices were not allowed to be mentioned aboard ship, for fear of attracting bad luck (or worse, bad weather).
Although this particular sea-taboo was one amongst many and didn't apply on land, it has become a popular modern myth that the word is somehow "unlucky" and has been adopted by some as a typical Manx practice, despite the fact that the old Manx had no qualms in using the word. Even non-superstituious people will refrain from using the "r" word to respect the local people and culture, fit-in or simply because they always have done.
Local, and socially acceptable alternatives for the superstitious also include joey, ringie, queerfella, iron fella and roddan (a Manx word). Recently young people have also begun saying r-a-t, owing to the influence of English immigrants.
Such sea-taboo names would have originally only applied on boats. Similar taboos can be found as far north as Shetland. Other sea taboos included pigs, cats, and knives.
 |
This vocabulary-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
