crabs

Definition

Also known as: pubic lice / crab lice / pediculosis pubis / papillon d'amour (butterfly of love), is caused by the Phthirus pubis parasite (or crab louse), a small, flat-bodied, whitish-gray or brownish-red, wingless, sucking louse, infesting the hairy part of the body, mostly the pubic hair, but occasionally the hair of the chest, armpits, eyelashes and eyebrows; it uses its claws to grab and hang onto hairs while feeding on its host's blood. Crabs are usually transmitted through skin-to-skin contact with an infected person, but can also be transmitted through sleeping in infested bedding, wearing infested clothing, and possibly from contact with an infested toilet seat. SYMPTOMS: Mild to intense itching in the pubic or groin area, especially at night. TREATMENT: Several prescription or over-the-counter creams, lotions, or shampoos. Some of the common brands include Nix, Lice-Enz, R&C Shampoo, Kwell, and RID.
Synonyms: ass mites; body lice; bosom buddies; bosom chums; bosom friends; boys on ice (rhyming slang); bugs; chatts; cooties; crabs; creepers; critters; crotch crickets; crotch critters; crotch monkeys; crumb; dibs and dabs (rhyming slang - crabs); dick scropions; gentleman's companions; itchy-scratchies; lap bugs; lice; light troops; love bugs; nits; pant rabbits; papillon d'amour (butterfly of love); pubic visitors; Sandy McNabs (rhyming slang - crabs); shattis; snatch monsters.

Quotes:

(1) Bruce Rodgers (?): ' Sleep with that pig and you'll probably end up with a family to feed.'

(2) A short poem composed by Lou Perelli (Alan Arkin) and Ruben Martinez (Andy Garcia) for Judge W. Myers (David Ogden Stiers) in Steal Big, Steal Little (1995): ' May bleeding piles torment you and corns adorn your feet / And crabs as big as horse flies dig into your balls and eat / And when you're old and weary and a siphilitic wreck / May you fall through your own bottom and break your bloody neck.'