Query: "birds and bees"

[Wilson Gray]

I'm surprised that there's any bird whatsoever with a penis. I reckon it
depends upon how you define "penis." Has anyone ever found a bird with a
vagina? IAC, if you've grown up in a house whose back porch faces a chicken
yard or dated a woman whose student-assistant job was masturbating turkeys
for the California ag school at UC Davis, there can be no doubt in your mind
that birds fuck, irregardless of whether they have penises and vaginas.
Besides, haven't you ever wondered what it was that motivated the murder of
the aptly-named "Cock" Robin by Mr. Sparrow? ;-)

-Wilson


On 2/15/06, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Query: "birds and bees"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> >Uh, John, birds reproduce by fucking.
>
> This is off topic, perhaps, but according to information provided
> this week on another list I subscribe to, "Swans are the only birds
> with penises!" (exclamation point in original).  I feel a tension
> between the two claims above, and I'm not sure how to resolve it.
>
> LH
>
> >The only difference is that the
> >fertilized egg completes its development outside of the mother's body. I
> >don't think embarrassed parents would have wanted to go there, right off
> the
> >bat.
> >
> >-Wilson
> >
> >On 2/15/06, Baker, John <JMB at stradley.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >>  -----------------------
> >>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >>  Poster:       "Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM>
> >>  Subject:      Re: Query: "birds and bees"
> >>
> >>
>
> >>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >>          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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