"Bees' nest"?!!! WTF!!!

[Ronald Butters]

Yes, a good linguist would have to agree that scientifically based taxonomies have their uses. But of course English-US folk-taxonomy lexicosemantics can be confusing. The first time that a British lad asked me when he could knock me up, I gave him a highly embarrassing answer.

On Feb 17, 2012, at 6:50 AM, Damien Hall wrote:

> What a shame Dennis Preston's not on this list any more.  He'd have some interesting things to say in the 'folk taxonomy' debate.
>
> I just wanted to come here and note that Brits don't use the term 'bee' to cover 'all flying, stinging, possibly yellow and black insects'.  This was a usage I first came across when I moved to Philadelphia.  And aren't I right in alleging that there are hairy wasps?  ISTM therefore that what Brits use to establish the taxonomy is body shape: hourglass-ish and pointed for the wasp, blob for the bee.  When you get closer up there are, of course, other differences, as has been noted, but I wouldn't want to be close enough to either animal (particularly not to wasps) to see them, whereas body shape can be observed from a distance.
>
> I think Dan is right in his implication that both folk and scientific taxonomies are useful, depending on what you want to use them for.  I do seem to remember being confused by the larger usage for 'bee' when I first went to the States, and possibly not in a good way, as I'd be much more comfortable going close to a bee=honey/bumble bee than to a bee=wasp.
>
> Damien
>
> --
>
> Damien Hall
>
> University of Kent (UK)
> Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, 'Towards a New Linguistic Atlas of France'
>
> English Language and Linguistics, School of European Culture and Languages
>
> Please think about coming to our conference, and tell people about it! Sat 5 May 2012:
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>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
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