MovieChat Forums > Where the Crawdads Sing (2022) Discussion > Crawdads... crawfish...

Crawdads... crawfish...

posted 2 years ago by [deleted]
5 replies | jump to latest

Here in Canada we call them crayfish.

Somewhere -- probably a movie -- I heard them referred to crawdads I knew that they were the same creature.

But the line in the book and the movie about them 'singing' had me second-guessing myself. Were they some type of bird then and I had some sort of false memory? Nope. Googling tells me crawdads, crawfish and crayfish are all the same critter.

So where does the expression 'crawdads sing' come from and what does it mean? Is it some sort of local slang or just some BS invented for the movie?

[–] Otter (24464) 2 years ago

I think the "singing" comes because they make sound when boiled alive. Perhaps that has some significance in the book?

And here in California, we call them "Crawfish", pronounced "cray-fish".

[–] [deleted] 2 years ago

"I think the "singing" comes because they make sound when boiled alive."

In the book and movie, her brother tells her to flee to the part of the marsh where the crawdads sing whenever their father was raging. She would be safe there.

I don't think that ties in with your explanation. I thought maybe it was some sort of North Carolina expression, but Googling turns up nothing.

[–] tab1969 (92) 2 years ago

I'm in Florida and I've always called them crawldads.

[–] elcamino (15540) 2 years ago

South Texas has always called them Crawdads or slang name of mudbugs.

[–] gcarras (2770) 2 years ago

I in California call them CRAWDADS or CRAYFISH or CRAWFISH, as the spelling might indicate. 😉