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Reader question: Please explain “shell” in this sentence: Sometimes the need to make a big decision can send you scurrying back into your shell. My comments: Scurrying, first of all, means you’re back into your shell swiftly, i.e. in a hurry. One’s “shell”, on the other hand, is any place one feels safe, either one’s home or any place that makes one feel that one’s privacy is protected, where they feel safe and shielded from danger. Figuratively speaking, of course, as originally, “shell” refers to the shell carried by a turtle or snail or a hermit crab. Obviously the idea of humans getting into their shell is inspired by many a various type of such animals in the wild – from humans observing animal behavior. As you know, the turtle, snail and hermit crab and other like and like animals, they all shrink into their hard shell when they see or feel any slight sign of danger. The shell, for them, is where they’re out of harm’s way. Similarly, for us humans, our metaphorical shell is where we feel safe, our comfort zone, so to speak. Back to our example, that “the need to make a big decision can send you scurrying back into your shell” means sometimes, we’re not as decisive as we ought to be, to say the least. We’re afraid of making decisions for fear of making irreparable mistakes, especially when we’re faced with a big decision. | 
