Haha. I saw an earwig crawling around in my tipi last night (along with all my spider friends) and I thought… “Do those things actually crawl into peoples ears?” Haha. I know they don’t really… I’ve heard or read they eat vegitarian meals. But seriously, where did the name come from?
Here’s what Wikipedia had to say:
The name "earwig" is generally said to originate from an old European belief that earwigs crawl into people's ears and lay eggs in the brain. This etymology is given by the Oxford English Dictionary, which states unequivocally that the name is derived from Old English éare, "ear", and wicga, "insect", "from the notion that it penetrates into the head through the ear." Earwigs do tend to prefer being in hidden places, and this etymology parallels the unambiguous French name perce-oreille ("ear piercer"). Another hypothesis is that the word comes from the Late Latin auricula, owing to the ancient use of pulverized earwigs as medicine to treat diseases of the ear. A third explanation is that it is an alteration of "ear-wing", after the shape of the hind wings when unfolded.
I’ve always heard that they didn’t, but then I was looking up treatment for foreign bodies in the ear (don’t even ask), and apparently they do sometimes climb in, “especially in campers and people who sleep on the ground”.
An insect in the ear is said to be “extremely distressing” and the treatment is to fill the ear canal with oil, such as olive oil. The insect suffocates and floats to the top where it can be easily fished out.
I’m not sure why it has to be oil and not water, or if water would work. I don’t plan to test it!
I got pinched by one around the age of 9. I remember that it didn’t feel good and I got surprized to see what pinched me. I didn’t know that they could pinch hard enough to cause pain. I think I even bled, I don’t know, I can’t remember if I did or did but it hurt.
(along with all my spider friends)
i have a slight phobia to spiders. any of them i see don’t bother me, big ones i dont’ want within 2 feet of me, small ones are fine if they get on me. but if a big one gets on me …well you’ve seen that scene with jim carey in ace ventura 2 when he runs out of the bad cave freakin out. hahaha hilarious!
but i’m working on it. and i’m getting a lot better. i just keep telling myself its just irrational.
but seroiusly… they are hairy, have eight legs, eight eyes, breathe out of their abdomen, have two big fangs that inject you with poison, they come out at night, build webs that you walk into, lay cacoons filled with millions of nasty spider spawn, and if contaminated with nuclear waste grow to gigantic proportions. 
I always make a genuine attempt to move any creepy crawly to an outside location,when found in my home.
I relocated an Earwig just the other night, though I wouldn’t kill it intentionally, they still kinda freak me out too…
I had a similar experience one night when I was younger sleeping in bed, I was woken by a pinching pain on my back!!! :o
I saw the silhouette of an earwig scurry from my bed and away into the dark.
Every since my memory has been marred by the traumatic event. :’(