What does this guy have in common with the artist formerly known as Prince? He was formerly known as something else. In his case—as a beaver. But not for much longer if my 2 year old wonder has anything to say about it. According to him, these creatures are not beavers at all, but instead, ”water bears”. Duh—of course they are! Leave it to a kid, who sees things simply and clearly, to clear up confusion for adults. And the repercussions are tremendous.
Beavers, or should I say, water bears, the world over, are singing Liam’s praises. In lieu of the, uh-hum, dual usage of their previous nomenclature, these poor, hard working critters will no longer be at the butt of so many insinuating jokes. And just think of the reduction in cases of whiplash in the human male population? Now while driving through rural areas, or perhaps crossing a rustic old bridge over a creek somewhere, shouting something like, “Whoa! Check out that water bear!”, incites much less risk of injury arising from an overzealously craned neck.
Liam, I really think you’re on to something here. Now if we can just convince the worldwide animal naming committee folks to make the necessary adjustments, we’re all set. In any case, in our household, those fun, dam building friends of ours out in the wild have been smilingly embraced as water bears.
I love how little kids coin their own terms for stuff. My friend’s little boy calls woodchucks “beaverhoggers”, and it’s come to be the norm in our house. I love it!