Snails in folklore
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The snail is a subject of the folklore of many cultures. In that setting, its most emphasised features are its shell and its slow locomotion.
[edit] Nursery rhymes
In addition to being a common metaphor for a slow person, the snail is traditionally considered in some countries to predict the weather with its behaviour. In some Scandinavian countries this has led to a rhyme in which a snail is asked to raise its 'horns'. If it does so, the weather tomorrow is said to be fine.
[edit] Modern folklore
- A snail can move across the bonnet of a moving vehicle which runs at over 75 Mph (120 km/h) without being blown away[citation needed]. They can also walk on a razor edge[citation needed].
- Snails are also used in some jokes, to emphasize how slow they move compared to everything else.
- In recent years, the term "snail mail" has come to be used as a colloquial reference to the traditional postal service, alluding to its slow delivery time in comparison to e-mail.
