birds and bees

[Boris Tatarenko]

Hello.

I have read news and I have found a strange sentence: The Chancellor and her colleagues don't need a lesson in the birds and the bees of statecraft, but they must appease the cries of domestic anti-American outrage.

What does "a leeson in the birds and the bees of statecraft" means?

Review & Outlook: Birds, Bees and NSA Spies - WSJ.com

Boris.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Hello.

I have read news and I have found a strange sentence: The Chancellor and her colleagues don't need a lesson in the birds and the bees of statecraft, but they must appease the cries of domestic anti-American outrage.

What does "a leeson in the birds and the bees of statecraft" means?

Review & Outlook: Birds, Bees and NSA Spies - WSJ.com

Boris.

The "birds and the bees" is the talk that parents have with children about sex. In this use, it means "the fundamentals" or "the basics".

 

[Tdol]

Is it used this way in AmE (fundamentals/basics)? It sounds odd to me.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Is it used this way in AmE (fundamentals/basics)? It sounds odd to me.

I've never seen it used that way. But I assumed it did not mean "sex".