There is a private, reclusive part to every Cancerian you’ll ever know. Because of their extreme emotional sensitivity, they secretly fear ridicule, and would rather retreat than defend themselves. As with real crabs, whose soft insides are protected by a hard outer shell, there is an emotional vulnerability within all Cancerians which they try to mask by a tough exterior. Sometimes expressed as crabbiness (the derivative for this word is no accident), their attempts at coldness are never completely successful, for the Cancerian warmth of heart always manages to come through.