Lightening Bugs

You know the bugs that light up in the summer? As children, we caught them and put them in jars (or those of us with violent tendencies squashed them on the pavement to see the glowy residue). As an adult, I still find myself chasing one occasionally if it's not too challenging. What do you call them? Well, my point here is that we live in Indiana...They're lightening bugs. Nobody who grew up in Indiana calls them fireflies so I know if you mention fireflies in your facebook status, blog or tweet, you're just doing it to sound fancy. Yeah, Ash, I'm talking to you, but I'm afraid you're not alone. I'm starting to become concerned that we are going to push the down-home term lightening bug right out to make room for the Hollywood version. I would just like to ask that we all make a conscience effort to stick to our roots and teach our children the region appropriate term which in case you weren't reading is Lightening Bug.

Let me know if you disagree...I'm curious to know if anybody who grew up here was taught firefly, not lightening bug. My mom actually brought this debate to my attention when my sister used the word firefly in casual conversation - much to my mother's dismay. I had never really thought much about it until then. I'm not sure what parts of the country use which term, but according to my mother, Reese Witherspoon's character in Sweet Home Alabama talks about lightening bugs. I'm not sure if it's a midwestern thing, a southern thing, or just a small town or rural thing. That's all I have to say about it, but I felt that it was my duty to bring this very important issue to light.