We had a job candidate pass through today. They were from New Orleans. The phrase “crawfish boil” came through on the interview. Now guess what I can’t get out of my head?
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Freshwater lobsters!
or, sentient beings we’d better not piss off.
One family vacation at Big Lake, in Arizona, we had zero luck fishing for trout, but caught, as the phrase goes ‘a mess of crawdads’ (who knew they lived in N.Arizona streams and lakes!) and had a memorable meal out of them.
Another time in the same part of the state I and my then girlfriend made a meal of freshly caught trout stuffed with wild mushrooms and crawdad tails.
Magnificent.
The genteel call them crayfish.
Us rednecks call ’em mudbugs.
We just relocated to NW Louisiana, courtesy of my office being moved.
Crawfish boils are a big thing here, also as noted above, called mudfish. A bit of research revealed one eats the tail and if one wishes, sucks out the thorax. I’ll stick with the tails, whenever I get some. I have to avoid the saltwater variety, due to the hyperthyroidism, but the freshwater variety are safe for me to eat without doing bad things to my endocrine system. :)
Once my endocrinologist says “mischief managed”, I’ll be able to dig back into a nice, big shrimp basket, enjoy crabs and other iodine laden delights (including kale), for now, I’ll have to miss some of my favorites and make due with the local iodineless variety of crustacean and of course, my ever favored catfish.
I just made a big pot of potato soup, converted to stew with barley as a thickener, with catfish added as a treat. I then baked that all into a fine loaf of bread the size of Italian bread. Each slice, a fair meal. :)
That should hold me for the rest of the week (Wednesday is my “Friday”). :)
Alas, if it comes from the water, my wife refuses to eat it, so I’ll have to get any crawfish boils when we’re dining out.
I see you have gone over to the grammatical darkside: “A job candidate… They were…”
At least it is non-sexist but it still grates on the ear (“Let’s make America grate again”).
He/she (or “he or she”) is at least correct although it might reflect on your biological observational powers.
Or just the individual, or the candidate, or…
I heard a story from the Katrina disaster. A woman’s husband had disappeared during the storm, and she notified the sheriff as soon as she could, but with all the damage and chaos, it was days before they could get back to her. Finally, a deputy knocked on her door with good news and bad news.
*sigh* “Tell me the bad news first,” she said, expecting the worst.
“Well, Ma’am, we found your husband floating out on Lake Pontchartrain. He’s been there since the hurricane.”
“Oh my God!” she wailed, “What could the good news possibly be?”
The deputy replied, “We got 30 pounds of crawdads off him, and we’re going to run him out again tonight!”
I’m in Ireland, lately of Houston. Know what I can’t get out of my head (or at all in Ireland)? A crawfish boil.
jstackpo, the singular “they” is well-attested and considered correct, if alternate. True grammar nerds understand when the rules change, except in this particular case they haven’t really even changed.
I recall hearing a legend that I can give credence to, if not veracity of, that the first man who documented English and all of its rules and exceptions did so faithfully, then became insane, to subsequently commit suicide.
I’ve never verified or disproved that story, however, I do acknowledge the probability of such an event would approach unity, as nearly every rule in the language has exceptions, to include that rule of exceptions.
Still, it’s my native tongue and it’s a language that I personally enjoy abusing to the point of torture. ;)