Query: "birds and bees"

[Baker, John]

        The rationale is that, stereotypically, parents explaining sex
to their children would begin by discussing how birds and bees
reproduce.  I don't know how this began; perhaps there was an old
parenting manual that suggested taking this approach?

John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Cohen, Gerald Leonard
Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2006 6:16 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Query: "birds and bees"

Today in my Etymology class a student asked me about the rationale for
the expression "the birds and the bees."  I mentioned that it's a
euphemism for "sex/reproduction," but is there anything else to add?
When did the expression first appear, and why specifically where the
birds and bees selected?  Why not, for example, rabbits and lizards? Or
chipmunks?

Gerald Cohen

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