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

[Wilson Gray]

On Sun, Feb 19, 2012 at 10:41 AM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Many, many speakers, however, being confident of the distinction,
> nevertheless automatically prefer "bee" when the distinction doesn't
> matter or when they haven't got a good luck at the buzzing evildoer.

But… But… How can there be a situation in which the distinction
between a bee and a wasp doesn't matter? And it doesn't take a good
look to distinguish a bee from a wasp. A casual look is sufficient.

Well, it depends on where you live, I reckon. During the times that
I've lived in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Boston, and, now, Wilkes-Barre,
I've certainly had no reason even to concern myself with the fact that
bees and wasps exist. I have no idea when the last time was that I saw
either a bee or a wasp. Very likely, not since I was last in Saint
Louis, in 1962.

People who've never lived where it truly matters whether it's a bee or
a wasp would certainly not have any particular motivation to
internalize the distinction.

What about the distinction between "American" and "German"
cockroaches? To my eye, these are so distinct that, when I was first
shown German cockroach - in Los Angeles, FWIW - I refused to believe
that it could really be a cockroach, having been thitherto familiar
only with the American genus. But the fact of the matter is I now have
not laid eyes on an American cockroach since the '50's, whereas German
cockroaches are everywhere, except in Saint Louis and in Marshall, TX,
IME. According to W:pedia, edited:

"The German cockroach [is] also known as a 'hood' in the U.S."

Really?

W:pedia also says that

"The German cockroach is the number-one roach in the world."

I'm convinced.

--
-Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain

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