What gives crabs their negative image?

I’m sitting here this evening pondering what to write about.  It’s not that I don’t have a wealth of ideas – my idea list is about 90 items long at this point (not including the things I’ve already written about…)  It’s more that I don’t “feel like” writing about any of those ideas.  I guess you could say I’m in a pondery.  It’s kind of like a quandary, but with a quandary you’re trying to decide which course of action to take.  Well, a pondery is like that but no action is required.  You just have to think about things.

So, one of the things I’m thinking about is where crabs got their negative image.  I mean, yeah, they’re kind of ugly.  But lobsters are ugly, too, and although someone might say you are red as a lobster if you get sun-burned or really angry, they don’t transfer those characteristics to the lobster.

But if someone is in a bad mood, we say they’re “crabby.”  Why?  I haven’t made a detailed study of crabs, but by my observations, they walk sideways, wave their claws around, and are basically ugly.  None of which translates, in my mind, to being in a bad mood.

I also consider them to be a negative calorie food:  you burn more calories getting the “meat” out of the shell than the meat provides when you eat it.  So it’s a perfect diet food.  (Mind you, the FDA has not approved this statement, so don’t go starting this diet on my say-so and really expect to lose weight.)

Anyway, if you’ve got any thoughts about this question, I’d love to hear them.  “Leave a message at the sound of the tone…”  Or, better yet, write a comment by clicking on the comment link below.