Dragonfly Nicknames

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, how are you?

Super, how are you doing? Who is this?

This is Sandy Hughes in Fort Worth.

Well, welcome to the program, Sandy.

Thank you, thanks for having me.

What’s on your mind?

Well, I had emailed a question about, is anybody in Oklahoma, my grandparents, my uncle and aunt, lived up there. We used to call the dragonfly snake doctors. And I didn’t know if it was an Oklahoma thing or a family thing or a South America thing. I didn’t know what it was.

But I do know that my grandmother, she passed away when I was five or six. I found out that she was Welch and very superstitious, so I didn’t know if that had anything to do with snake doctors or where it came from.

Very interesting.

Snake doctors is a name for dragonflies.

So it really is a real name?

Oh, you betcha, Sandy.

Now let me ask you something. I wonder, how do you feel about dragonflies? Do they look cute or scary?

Oh, they’re beautiful, and they’re peaceful, and they make me think of my childhood. I loved them. I loved them. Very peaceful. Peaceful.

That’s interesting. They remind you of trips to the country and that kind of thing?

Yes.

And what started all this, one day we were at work and I’m on the second floor in this huge dragonfly. The big ones kind of scare me. It hit my window. And I said, look, that snake doctor hit the window. And the girls looked at me like, what are you talking about?

Well, the family always called them snake doctors. I said, I don’t know why, but that’s what we called them. But, oh, they just make me feel good when I see them.

Oh, that’s really nice.

Oh, man, that is so interesting, Sandy. I’ve been so eager for somebody to call and talk about dragonflies because they have such interesting folklore attached to them. And what fascinates me is that a lot of people think they’re really creepy.

Really?

Oh, no, no.

Yeah, and so in European folklore, well, like in Britain, they’re often called the devil’s darning needle. And in Norway, they go by a name that means eye poker. This insect that pokes you in the eye because their bodies are so distinctive. You know, they’re long and needle-like. And, in fact, in European tradition, there are all these stories about how if children are bad, the dragonflies will come and sew up their mouths so that they can’t…

That’s really creepy.

How creepy is that?

So that they can’t say any more bad words. So that needle-like image is very interesting and gave rise to a lot of different kinds of names. And the one that you mentioned, snake doctor, is associated with that as well because there’s an old tale that dragonflies used to follow snakes around, and if a snake got injured, the dragonfly would get in there and sew it up.

Oh, how interesting is that?

That is cool. Now, where did that folklore come from? Any idea?

That’s a great question. Well, there are a couple ideas that I read about. Snakes and dragonflies tend to inhabit the same kind of wet areas, and so they’re often seen together. Snakes also love to eat dragonflies if they can get a hold of them. So snakes are in pursuit of dragonflies, which puts them even closer to proximity more often. And also, the shape of a dragonfly, it’s got that kind of hook at the end like a darning needle, so maybe that has something to do with it. You know when they curl their tail under?

Oh, wow.

Or a knitting needle, I should say. We were never allowed to kill them. My grandparents and my uncles said, don’t kill them. They’re good. Okay, so we always grew up thinking, oh, these are good and they’re pretty. You know, I never thought anything.

Oh, that’s sad. Some people think they’re scary and creepy.

Yeah.

No, they get rid of a lot of the other bug pests.

Oh, that’s cool.

Yeah.

But there’s a lot of names from even the United States, right, Martha?

A lot, yeah.

Yeah, mosquito hawk, horse doctor, the devil’s horse. It’s often associated with the devil. Yeah, spindle, snake feeder, snake waiter. I see a bunch more. I see a whole slew of them in the United Kingdom as well.

Yeah.

Yeah, the fleeing ask, the tangyng ether, and the bull stang. That’s a wonderful name, right? All four little dragonflies. That is super. That is neat. Isn’t that crazy?

And, Sandy, I’m with you. I think they’re beautiful. I love the iridescent different colors and how those little wings just support that long body.

So snake doctors.

Yeah, so you’re not alone. You can tell your coworkers that you are part of a larger movement to recognize the wisdom of this animal.

Oh, that’s great. And I only want to know the good part. I don’t want to know the bad part, so that’s cool. That is neat. A lot of information.

Yeah. Well, enjoy.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, and thank you for having me on the show.

Well, it was our pleasure.

Okay.

Have a good day.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

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