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Figheadair-fodair
Posted by Abi on 30th of June 2016
I hope that none of our readers have ‘pteronarcophobia’ (a fear of flies) because today I’m wring about daddy longlegs or crane flies. Figheadair-fodair [weaver of fodder] originates from Strathglass and meant a daddy longlegs in that area, but it also meant a spider in Rannoch.
The word breabadair was collected for the wee beastie in South Uist, where it can also mean a weaver or somebody who is kicking. Also, the word was used as an insult. Whereas on the Isle of Skye, tarbh chuileig [bull fly] was collected for a daddy longlegs and bodach-na-móintich [old man of the moor] was collected on the Isle of Lewis.
It is clear that there are many varied words and expressions for this little beastie with his long, skinny legs, and if you have any others then we would be interested to hear them from you. You can leave comments under our blog posts and also we have a page on Facebook and on Twitter.
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