If You Go Out to the Woods Today, You're In For a Big Surprise

Years ago, some friends and I were at the San Diego Zoo, where we encountered an animal we'd never seen before. Heck, I'd never heard of it, and I don't think Chris and Allen had either. The animal was the takin, a hoofed mammal that's a relative to the ox. Here's one:


Anyway, this creature was entirely new to us. And the sign made us even more curious. The bold print read:

Takin
From Behind, Like Teddy Bears

The story under that headline (and I might have every single detail wrong, but I've never forgotten the gist) explained that the daughter of the naturalist who was studying the takins used to only be able to catch a glimpse of their hindquarters, as they'd always run away when people approached. She's see them darting into the forest, and, only seeing two of their legs, thought they looked like teddy bears standing up.Hence the subhead, "From behind, like teddy bears."

Now, there's a certain myopia to jargon. If you're familiar with a word, you know just how it's pronounced, how it's used in a sentence, etc. You don't think about misinterpretations. As a zoologist, you know that "takin" rhymes with "rockin'".

Not so with your casual passersby. To us, well... I won't go into the details, but I think this picture says it all.


Rob
(P.S. You're better off not Googling "teddy bear sex," like I did to find that picture. Trust me on this.)