Buster Crabbe was one of my childhood heroes. He was in quite a few Westerns, played Flash Gordon, made many of those serials they played on Saturdays, was a Tarzan, and had many other appearances that had him ranking with Johnny Weissmuller as far as I was concerned.
Just letting you know, if you didn’t, that there really was such a person.
What made me think of him though is the ridiculous nickname!
His birthname was Clarence Linden Crabbe and among his IMDB biography items there is
But I’m not here to praise Buster. I’m here to ask one simple question:
Can you name anybody else with as unsuitable a nickname?
I know plenty about the human infestation known as crabs. I’m unaware of any euphemism about the “busting” of crabs. A regionalism, perhaps? Even my years in Maryland, where I spent much time both catching and eating Chesapeake Bay crabs didn’t introduce me to the term.