Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Word Origins 27. The word origin today is
ladybug. Yeah. So I don't know. Did you ever wonder why we called ladybug, a
ladybug ?Where did the lady come from I know that seems kind of strange. So
that's what we're going to discuss today. All right. Let's take a look at the note
here. The word bug in the name is obvious, because ladybug is a type of beetle. The
word lady in the name is a reference to the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus. This is
actually a bit surprising that this is where the lady comes from in ladybug. So
it's actually a little bit of her a religious association here. All right. Let's
continue. There are two possible versions about how the name got associated with
the bug. Okay the particular species that originally got the name was the seven
spotted coccinella semtempuneta. Well hopefully I pronounced that correctly..
That type of a beetle. So it actually had seven spots. Yeah. I could always remember
when I was a kid they always used to tell you that you know this spots was
the age of the beetle or something like that but of course that's probably not
correct. But but the seven spots was why the first or the first one is why they
connected it with the Virgin Mary. So let's continue here. Mostly native to
Europe. So this particular ladybug is mostly found in Europe. Some associated
the seven spots to the Seven Sorrows that Mary, the mother of Jesus suffered.
Yeah. So in the Catholic religion , there is you know, they sometimes talk about the Seven
Sorrows throughout her life Mary, the mother of Jesus had seven times where
she suffered very painful events.You know one of them was when they had to
escape. You know with when I think Herod was going to try to
kill all the babies. Another time when Jesus was lost, And he and and I think
three of the times alone had to do with the crucifixion. So but anyway. Let's,
let's continue. Seven spots, All right, So the Seven Sorrows are different episodes
Mary had to bear through her life and while witnessing the crucifixion and the
burial of Jesus. Yeah. so of course when he's crucified on the
cross and I think when he was stabbed with the spear and then actually burying
him. So those were those were three that were directly connected just to the
death of Jesus. All right. Anyway, let's continue. There is a second idea about it
but of course they're both connected to you know the Virgin Mary. So the second
belief of the origin comes from a famous legend during the Middle Ages. A plague
of insects were killing crops and many farmers prayed to Our Lady and they
prayed. They prayed to the Virgin Mary or the Blessed Mother it's another way that
we refer to the Virgin Mary. Their prayers were eventually answered with
the sudden appearance of thousands of ladybugs that came to attack and feed on
the aphids. Okay. That's the insect that was destroying all the crops. So you
know see, it seemed almost like a miracle. They suddenly appeared and they came
and they ate it and you know, the crops were saved. The harvest was saved that is what
led to the name of ladybug. So it is actually quite an interesting story.
Sometimes you know , sometimes ladybug has some other names too. Although in the
US ladybug is the main name. Sometimes it is also referred to as lady bird , lady
beetle , lady cow. I didn't know some of these and cow lady. Anyway, I hope you got
it. I hope you found it to be interesting. Thank you for your time. Bye-bye.