Authors' Note:
cucaracha: Spanish for cockroach, presumably giving rise in the early 17th century to the English name for the insect
cockroach: adjectival form for the common insect (of thousands of species, only four are characterized as pests; cockroachlike might also be used in appropriate instances) In the 1830s, Victorians adopted the shortened form roach to avoid the sexual connotations of the insect's name.
You can review Giorgio's other verses about pesty and occasionally beneficial insects, as collected in 'Buzzwords: Verses about Insects' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.
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