[cocktailpeanuts]

I can say for sure it's not just for English speaking people.

Rather, I'm actually curious why you think some cultures may even think that cockroaches are OK.

Cockroaches are universally considered as pests all over the world because they ARE pests, that's how they survive. Look up wikipedia to learn more about cockroaches. They have an entire section describing the relationship between humans and cockroaches, mostly about them being a pest.

[icebraining]

I read bpizzi's post as saying that, for non-native English speakers, the name doesn't trigger the same aversion because the mental connection between the English name and memories of the bugs is weaker, since we grew up calling them something else. At least that's the case for me, as a non-native English speaker myself.