What do you call the small flying insect that lights up at night?
Previous Findings:
In the Harvard Dialect Survey, 55.95% of Massachusetts respondents reported that they use the term ‘firefly’. Meanwhile, 34.29% reported using ‘firefly’ and ‘lightning bug’ interchangeably.
Our Findings:
We found that 78.48% of our respondents refer to insects that light up as a ‘firefly’ and about 13.92% call these insects a ‘lightning bug’. In our sample, 69.23% of African American speakers use the word ‘firefly’ whereas 85.71% of Caribbean American speakers use ‘firefly’, suggesting a slight ethnic difference. Our findings suggest that Black Boston area natives commonly use ‘firefly’.
References:
- (Harvard Dialect Survey, 2003: Massachusetts Dialect Survey Results).
