the bear

[William Ryan]

I do agree, and for good historical and culinary reasons. Russia is the
only place I have ever eaten bear's paws. Bears were always a part of
Russian popular entertainment, and in Britain, at least in the
nineteenth century, itinerent Russian bear-leaders with their bears,
were not uncommon. At the higher associative level, I must say that
until my exposure to Russian culture in my late 'teens, I had always
thought of North America as the land of the bear (any number of boy's
adventure books, Davy Crockett when he was only three, etc), and assumed
that the bear-hug was the behaviour of the grizzly or Ursus horribilis.
However, I see from my SOED that the bear hug is first recorded as an
English expression in 1659 - so options are open. As for the French, I
wonder why it is frogs that have stuck in the popular memory rather than
snails or garlic or smelly cheese, all anathema to the English (and
probably Americans) for a long time, until they became fashionable
fairly recently.
Will Ryan

Genevra Gerhart wrote:
>
> The French go with frogs, so the Russians go with bears. I would not attach
> too much significance to it.
>
> Genevra Gerhart
>
> http://www.members.home.net/ggerhart
> New email address: ggerhart at home.com
> 206-329-0053
>

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