Longtail

For the economic term, see The Long Tail.

The word longtail is a euphemism used on the Isle of Man to describe a rat, as a modern superstition has arisen that it is considered bad luck to mention this word. The origins of this superstition date to sea-taboos, where certain words and practices were not allowed to be mentioned aboard ship, for fear of attracting bad luck (or worse, bad weather).

Although this particular sea-taboo was one amongst many and didn't apply on land, it has become a popular modern myth that the word is somehow "unlucky" & has been adopted by some as a typical manx practice, despite the fact that the old manx had no qualms in using the word.

Local, and socially acceptable alternatives for the superstitious include joey, ringie, queerfella, iron fella and roddan (a Manx word). Recently young people have also begun saying r-a-t, owing to the influence of English immigrants.

Such sea-taboo names would have originally only applied on boats. Similar taboos can be found as far north as Shetland. Other sea taboos included pigs, cats and knives.

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