Earworms - [critters/slang]

EarWorms - [Critter/Slang]  - aka "brainworms"

• About: An 'Earworm' is an infectious recurring tune, song or catchy melody (often obnoxious) that involuntarily pops up and gets trapped in your mind, they are typically spread by musicians via lay-motifs and advertisements via musical jingles, though they will also lay dormant and pop up spontaneously when you aren't really thinking about them. Fortunately, earworm's are not (usually) fatal, though depending on the tune, they can be very VERY annoying. That said there are pleasant ear worms too…

• An incomplete list of a few examples of popular/infamous “obnoxious” modern earworms that have popped into my mind years or even decades after hearing them include... [i'll add more later as i recount them, suggestions are welcome.]

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmitt. - [Author unkown?, 1920s?]

Its a Small world afterall - [Sherman Brothers, 1962.]

Meowmix jingle. - [Purina, MeowMix 1976.]

Never gonna give you up. - [Rick Astley, 1987.]

Baby Shark - [Author unknown, 1990s?]

The Song that Doesn't End. - [Lambchop, Sherry Lewis, 1988.]

Badgers song. - [2003.]

Narwhals. - [Jonti Picking, 2009.]

The duck song. - [Bryant Oden, 2009.]

• Known cures: its said that listening to a melody or a song that is the opposite of catchy (a couple “pallet cleansing” examples include the Birthday Song & Alphabet Song can work as an immidiate cure, depending.) chewing on gum or listening to a remixed version of the tune have also proven to be effective. Fortunately most Earworms fade from memory within an hour or two as the brain becomes occupied with other thoughts, that is until they return at a moments notice another day. Once infected, they are not easily lost or forgotten.

• History: Earworms used to be a figure of speech, which apparently originated as a loan translation from the German word 'Oarworm' (meaning: "Earwigs") [speaking of Earwigs, as a child i feared those bugs because i was told that they where parasites that would lay eggs in your ears!!! —Fortunately this is not a fact.] - In recent internet folklore earworms have also been labeled as a type of 'Cognito Hazard.'

See also: Cootie.

art sticker by samkalensky part of my fearsome critters collection of stickers, follow and support for more :)