---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Learning Kingdom's Cool Word of the Day for June 2, 1999 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- jungle [n. JUNG-gul] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A jungle is an area of land that is densely overgrown with tropical vegetation. More metaphorically, a jungle can also be something that is confusing or densely tangled, as in this example: "After three hours of study, Stew became frustrated by the dense jungle of tax rules." Although today we usually think of jungles as moist places, the original jungles were dry. The oldest known root is Sanskrit jangalam (a dry wasteland, or any kind of uncultivated area). In Hindi, a jangal was still an area of wasteland, but with the additional sense of being overgrown with scrub. When the word moved into Anglo-Indian, it changed to almost its present meaning, referring to an area of dense forest. Since entering English, the word has developed many new variants. Now there are concrete jungles (big cities), blackboard jungles (public schools), corporate jungles (big companies), and of course the globe-spanning digital jungle (the Internet). The nearly pristine jungles of Borneo still offer adventure and danger: http://savvytraveler.com/Show/Features/10-24-98/borneo.html Today's sponsor: J and M House of Gifts http://www.jandmhg.com It's our anniversary, come join the fun! The easy way to shop online. New items added weekly. Visit our Crafts, Kids, and Animal pages. Sign up for our FREE newsletter. See our Specials! Play our Name Game! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Cool Word of the Day list membership: 100,305 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To subscribe, visit http://www.tlk-lists.com/join/ To unsubscribe, visit http://www.tlk-lists.com/change/ To become a sponsor, visit http://www.tlk-lists.com/sponsor/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 1999, The Learning Kingdom, Inc. http://www.LearningKingdom.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------