[Cultural question] Why Americans seem to hate moths?

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Misslizard
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16 Jul 2018, 11:41 am

I have mixed feelings about Mothra.


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jrjones9933
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16 Jul 2018, 2:57 pm

The_Face_of_Boo wrote:
Darmok wrote:
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal." (Matthew 6.19)

Doesn't work if you substitute "butterflies." :D



Interesting, I looked into the Arabic version of that:

مت 6 :19 لا تكنزوا لكم كنوزا على الارض حيث يفسد السوس و الصدا و حيث ينقب السارقون و يسرقون


There's no word of 'moth' in this sentence, it's 'Sous' which means small beetles / weevils ......


and now in French:

"19 Ne vous amassez pas des trésors sur la terre, où la teigne et la rouille détruisent, et où les voleurs percent et dérobent;"

There's no "Moth" here either nor "night butterfly" but instead of it there's the "la teigne" which means a kind of skin disease, it's not even an insect.

So aha!! That's the source of your irrational hatred for moths, Americans, it's your Bible translation!!

And btw, only very few species of moths ' larvaes eat clothes. The ones that evolved among human habitas.

Northern Europeans likely wear more wool and mohair than people on the Mediterranean.

That, and the king James bible thing.

Mothra was acting in self-defense, and isn't aggressive.


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Misslizard
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16 Jul 2018, 7:58 pm

Sometimes,but she lays eggs everywhere and ate a hole in my blanket.


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jrjones9933
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17 Jul 2018, 9:42 am

And forget mothballs.

Back to the use of wool, though, I forgot about the rugs. Although one uses rugs year-round, so they don't get put away for months in dark, musty places. People who wear wool clothes tend to pack them in chests, and the darkness and stable temperature seem like a great environment for larvae.


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Misslizard
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18 Jul 2018, 2:02 pm

JR high joke.
“have you ever seen moth balls?”
Most say yes.
“How’d you get their tiny legs apart?”
Yuk yuk


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lostonearth35
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18 Jul 2018, 2:08 pm

Q: What do you get when you cross a praying mantis with a moth?

A: A bug that says grace before it eats your clothes.



ExceladonCity
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20 Jul 2018, 9:33 am

To be fair, I hate all insects. Granted, moths are pretty benign and as long as they aren't clumsily fluttering about my living quarters or in my personal space, I'm okay with them.

Cecropia moths are super cool, though.



kraftiekortie
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20 Jul 2018, 9:37 am

Mosquitos....you swat. They carry many diseases.

Moths....just leave them alone. They don't harm anybody.



lostonearth35
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20 Jul 2018, 1:33 pm

I live in Canada I agree that many types of moths are quite beautiful and their fat, furry bodies make them look more like a tiny living plush toy.

Moths are usually nocturnal, so maybe the dislike of them goes back to medieval times when people believed animals that were active at night were evil and full of black magic. :)

I grew up in the country and was very fascinated by bugs and insects, so I'm pretty much used to them as long as they don't try to suck your blood or carry diseases. I like spiders because they eat bugs like that, and where I live most spiders aren't dangerous to humans.



jimmy m
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20 Jul 2018, 2:12 pm

I don't hate moths. Many are more beautiful than butterflies. So saying Americans hate moths seems too much like a generalization. The only problem with moths is that they can eat holes in clothing. That is why my closets are lined with cedar.

I do hate a number of bugs. Number one on the list is ticks. I hate them. Next is chiggers. Following that are yellow jackets, mosquitoes, stinging flies. Also I am not too fond of Japanese Bean Beetles because they destroy the leaves on my trees and my garden. Also not too fond of potato bugs because they destroy my tomato plants. I dislike Carpenter Bees because they destroy wooden structures. (Built a trap to catch these bees.)

On the other hand I like ladybugs. But then I am not fond of Asian Lady Beetles because they swarm and will bite. I like praying mantis. I like lightning bugs. I also like a nonflying worm that lights up in the dark. Fairly rare, I saw them only once. I love dragonflies.


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sly279
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20 Jul 2018, 5:18 pm

I respect all life. Moths hit me in the face though which is irritating but I do t hate them. One of our cats catches and eats them :( such is life though I guess



naturalplastic
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21 Jul 2018, 7:41 am

Canadians!

And...

MOTHS!! !! !

I hate all members of both of those two groups!

Both of them chew holes into my bright red MAGA hats!



Last edited by naturalplastic on 21 Jul 2018, 10:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

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21 Jul 2018, 9:06 am

I live in america and have no freaking clue, I like them myself and some of them are very pretty like the Rosy maple moth, the luna moth and the Hummingbird hawk-moth.


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07 Aug 2018, 1:06 am

There was a little moth flying around in my room for the last half hour, and I finally got 'im. :skull:


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