Nancy Pelosi took a minute at the Washington Ideas Forum on Thursday to clarify that the activities of Congress should not necessarily be compared to panda sex.

The analogy had been put forth by David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group, earlier that morning. (Rubenstein had suggested that Congress couldn't get along better than pandas, which mate for maybe 10 minutes once a year.)

Pelosi didn't deny that current Congressional gridlock has the whiff of panda sex around it, but stressed that, "It hasn't always been this way." She expressed hope that the new class of lawmakers will work together.

Pelosi said she found the panda metaphor "cute" but said "it is of that moment."

"Hopefully, that moment has passed."