I'm curious about the context in which a radio talk show host said, "I don't speak Bear," this afternoon. Was she implying that a bear's language has more nuance than people realize and creates an unbridgeable gap with humans?
Presumably, it's reductionist to think it's all about growling or expressing a desire to hibernate for long stretches. Yogi Bear, for example, enjoyed a good picnic. Fozzie Bear persisted in his goal to be appreciated as a comedian. Most surprising to me, however, was the unexpected blend of Italian dialect and Fats Domino vocal stylings that an animatronic Smokey Bear displayed during grade school fire safety assemblies. Decades later, I still remember him saying, "I'm a-gonna sing the same song I sang last year," before warbling, "Don't you play with matches or you'll catch on fire."
At a minimum, then, there's succulent meal-craving bear speech, hammy comic bear speech, and palatable admonition bear speech. That's quite a range of expression. I don't speak Bear either, then, so I admire the host's honesty.
On second thought, she might have just been quoting someone.
