 
Word of the Week
Word of the Week is compiled by experienced lexicographers who draw on huge computer resources of current usage normally accessible only to university departments and dictionary publishers. Each week we give you fascinating insights into how words are coined and how their usages change.
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Jungle
A jungle is an area of dense forest, with tall trees and tangled plants, usually in a tropical country of the world. People often refer to the rainforests of South America as 'jungles' (for example, 'the Amazon jungle' or 'the Brazilian jungle') and yet the 'African jungle' is never referred to as a rainforest. The word 'jungle' is quite informal. Geography textbooks or official reports on the environment don't often use the word. But travel writers, storytellers, and journalists use phrases such as 'deep in the African jungle' or 'in the heart of the jungle' to make us think of wild, remote, and dangerous places. Have you noticed that we nearly always say 'the jungle' rather than 'a jungle'? – as if there were only one jungle, that we are all familiar with.
The word captures our ideas of wildness and danger. Because of this, it is more often used nowadays about the dense tangle of buildings, roads, and railways in our cities: 'the urban jungle' or 'the concrete jungle'. If you use the phrase 'the law of the jungle', you are referring to a situation in which people behave like wild animals, using force or aggression to get what they want without following society's laws or rules. These features of modern, urban life have become associated with the world of untouched nature.
'Jungle' is also a style of dance music having a fast electronic drumbeat with funky bass. When people talk about jungle music they seem to create a whole new language. One music magazine praises 'the criminal-minded ruffneck avant-gardism of junglist 'ardkore'. Of course!
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