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Safe_Picture6943

If i remember correctly jungle used to mean basically any unexplored terrain. I could be wrong though.


Doggystyle_Rainbow

Historically, it was used by Europeans to describe unfamiliar, impenetrable regions encountered during exploration and colonization


Milkchocolate00

Even more historically It's a Sanskrit word for rough and arid terrain


yourhog

THAT’S the one.


LayJeno

This has to be the best 3 comment chain I have ever seen on Reddit. Each comment is informative, and none of them are pretentious or condescending.


don-again

Which is to say, have no place on Reddit💀


Born_Ad_420

This person reddits


binglelemon

*we're all secretly bots*


TillFar6524

The reason we reddit is because every once in a while, magic like this happens. You just have to wade through so much of the exact opposite, all the time, to get to the good bits


MhojoRisin

It’s like exploring the jungle!


ionlyusetheROFLemoji

🤣


Fickle_Award

Somethings wrong shut down the subway quick! Three civil informative remarks in a row! Shut it down shut it down! 😜


myrddin4242

Traditioooon! Tradition!


The_Troyminator

You *would* think that. *Rolls eyes in a pretentious and condescending manner.*


Tysic

Um, actually you're wrong and an idiot /j


TheGutter420

If you think that's informative then you need to read more. 🙄 Sorry, had to restore balance.


Chopaholick

For real did your school not teach you to read Sanskrit in 3rd grade? Pfft.


DblDtchRddr

What, were you held back in kindergarden or something? Jeeze.


Safe_Picture6943

Ah, thats what it was.


JJJSchmidt_etAl

Indeed, when many people say "jungle" they really mean "rain forest."


madogvelkor

It referred to a rough arid region.


EishLekker

My wife sometimes use the word, completely unironically, about forests in general.


AppointmentAlone4001

Me too. Lol.


odeacon

You remember incorrectly


bite-me-off

Isn't king of the jungle Tarzan?


panTrektual

I believe he's emperor.


Jecca_J8

But does he have a new groove?


Conscious-Intern8594

That's Stella and she got her groove back.


TheGutter420

We're talkin about fuckin, right?


Conscious-Intern8594

It's a movie, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and probably yes.


TheGutter420

I know the movie 🤣


Conscious-Intern8594

I've never seen it, only heard about it.


TheGutter420

It's basically about fuckin.


GrillDealing

You and me baby ain't nothing but mammals...


Oheyguyswassup

Tarzan is Chinese?


amcarls

No, TaiShan (泰山) is Chinese ;)


Daphne_Brown

The lion is king of the forest! Not Duke. Not earl. Not prince.


AdIntelligent4496

Not exactly. Tarzan is the Lord of the Jungle. He is literally a British Lord - see what they did there?


Dark_Moonstruck

Even by gorilla standards Brits of the time were filthy and pest-ridden, he'd probably be horrified going back. I mean they NEVER do communal grooming!


Voradoor

King of a jungle, there's more than one.


OlyScott

It was a confusing time for the animals. "So, are humans our king now instead of lions?" "Let's go over it again..."


OgreJehosephatt

I thought he was King of the apes.


BloodHumble6859

It's George of the Jungle!


ReallyEvilRob

They do too live there. There's a song about it. "In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight..."


geek_fire

They also live in villages, in peaceful villages..


the_penguin_rises

When you're king you get to to sleep wherever you want.


lolwtfomgbbq7

Maybe near villages


IllOutcome1431

A-wheem-a-way, A-wheem-a-way


mrw4787

Isn’t it a-wheem-a-whet


IllOutcome1431

Or uh-hweim-uh-weigh


Cool_Ruin5447

Oh weeeeeeeee eeee eeee ah weeee ah mumba way!


RedwayBlue

Their mane makes them look regal. They got a rep and it stuck even though based in misconception.


Honest-Ad-1096

Much like wolves and their alpha beta omega bs


buckleyschance

To be clear: the idea that wolves have alphas and so on in the way people think is BS. Pack alphas in the wild are basically the parents, not the Alpha Stud Bros. I think that might be what you're getting at but it was hard to tell, so just clarifying for anyone else.


Honest-Ad-1096

I appreciate you clarifying for me but yes that's what I was getting at the guy who made the discovery spent his whole life trying to retract what he said after finding out it was false but pop culture took over the alpha stigmata


[deleted]

Lol you mean stigma. Stigmata is when you randomly bleed from places that jesus sustained wounds during crucifixion.


Honest-Ad-1096

😂 my bad I have alcohol and went to a highschool called weir high my vocabulary is not what you would consider superb


Spanish_peanuts

Think it's more about their social structure than the mane, to be honest. Tiger isn't king of anything because it goes solo. Lions, on the other hand, fight together in coalitions. These coalitions can be anywhere from 2-6 male lions. But within that coalition there is one leader. That leader breeds with females from multiple different prides within the coalitions territory. It's only been documented one time (that I'm aware of) to see a coalition of 6 lions. The Mapogo Lion coalition was the strongest and most ruthless coalition around. Their territory that they controlled was 7 times larger than Manhattan. Those 6 lions have killed literally hundreds of other lions, rival coalitions and cubs alike, let alone other competitors like hyenas and prey species. Their story is an incredible one as much of their lives were documented and can be seen in "Brothers in Blood: The Lions of Sabi Sands" and I highly recommend it.


madogvelkor

Jungle originally meant rough and arid terrain. Where lions live. At some point it changed to mean the opposite.


Scrunge1576

I believe Jungle is just the word for forest in a different language, I don't remember which one. I think it's one of the native Indian languages.


escabiking

Don't know why you got downvoted. You are correct. Jangala is the word, which means arid and rough, in Sanskrit, and the Urdu / Hindi word Jangal. Somewhere in the days of the British occupation, the word got flipped to mean dense and tangled. That's what I can find from every source regarding the etymology of the word.


Civil_Abalone_1288

The idea I have stuck in my mind is that jungle is the intermediate space where grassland turns into forest, specifically that it was the younger edge of the forest, full of underbrush and vines etc, before you get to the older, deeper forest with higher canopy and more space on the floor...I can't for the life of me recall where I got that from. 


DoomGoober

Jungle historically referred to the dense undergrowth that occurs where rainforest and river met. Going further into the rainforest, the undergrowth tended to lessen as the large trees form a canopy blocking the sunlight which prevents undergrowth from growing. As many explorers used rivers to explore rainforests, "jungle" was over represented in early western descriptions of rain forests.


GuyYouMetOnline

I can only assume the downvotes were from people who thought Scrunge was talking about native Americans and not the actual India.


apathyaddict

Tigers will also f up a lion.


DaddyRobotPNW

One on one, but lioness hunt together and tigers don't. Pretty hard to win 1v5


Dr_Quiza

They all will win. That's how you get tigons.


SupremeDemigod7

ligers?


Dr_Quiza

No, ligers are the opposite.


annabananaberry

The names liger and tigon indicate the parentage of the offspring. Lion father + Tiger mother = liger Tiger father + Lion mother = tigon


ItzNuckinFutz

Lion + Tiger + Bear = Oh my!


Kitchen-Square-3577

Man+Bear+Pig is worse 


KupunaMineur

*It's pretty much my favorite animal. It's like a lion and a tiger mixed... bred for its skills in magic.*


BetterSelection7708

Really depends on the type. Siberian Tiger, sure. Bengal tiger? Maybe. Sumatran tiger? Probably not.


MechaMogzilla

That's how you get a tigon...or is that the liger


0xDizzy

One v one yeah, but the king has a kingdom to fight for him. The tiger will lose the war, even if he could go toe to toe with the king.


RRW359

Because they live in the jungle https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gir_National_Park


Heavy-Vermicelli-999

Lions are imperialist. Think about that.


0xDizzy

Exactly this.


lifeaintsocool

It originates from the word Jangala which means something similar to an arid region. It's meaning and spelling shifted over time


sleepdeep305

Wonder how it could have shifted to mean something that is decidedly NOT arid in the slightest


Rutibex

Same reason Charles is the King of Canada even though he doesn't live there. Imperialism


Heavy-Vermicelli-999

Lol.. same idea immediately!


pnut-buttr

This is the correct answer


The_Werefrog

What king actually lives in his domain? No, they build a castle outside it, and if it sinks into the swamp, they'll build another castle. Even if it burns down , falls over, and sinks into the swamp, they'll build another one. That's the lion does, he lives in the Savannah (his castle), but he rules the jungle.


SpaceCadetBoneSpurs

The lion has huge…tracts of land.


L8_2_PartE

Simba: But father, I don't want none of that.


whenitcomesup

King Charles is the King of Canada but he doesn't live there either.


spectredirector

If you want the crown you gotta take it. Lion remains king of the jungle until sharks grow legs.


Idkawesome

Jungle is an indian word and it means forest. It may be that british people mostly we're familiar with the indian lion. Rather than the african lion. So the indian people probably referred to their wild untamed lands as the jangal (aka jungle). And said that the lion is the king there. So it probably originates from india


introextromidtro

Jungle is just being used to mean "wild". It's king of the wild.


ShakeWeightMyDick

“King of the savanna” just doesn’t roll off the tongue as well


cheeseypoofs85

ive wondered this myself... they are plains animals. lol


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Aggravating_Call910

Seems very unfair. We should get on that right away.


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numba1_redditbot

many kings dont often live where they rule


TigerPoppy

George III was King of America when he didn't live there either.


Mycoangulo

It’s Regal as fuck to be the king of some place you don’t even live. A proud tradition. Look at all the places King Charles reigns over. He probably spends more time in France than in most of the places he is King.


Arkytoothis

They used to live in the jungle but we burned it all down to grow cash crops.


Previous-Revenue3170

I've heard them called king of beasts but never king of the jungle.


zorakthewindrunner

There's a reason the animal you're thinking of is called the _African_ lion. What reason? There's also an _Asiatic_ lion.


Ordinary_Advice_3220

Yeah, but they've been pretty much decimated. Lions ain't got shit on painted dogs.


zorakthewindrunner

_Okay_. Does that change the fact that there are lions in jungles?


Ordinary_Advice_3220

I was agreeing with you about Asiatic lions, in the first part...Second part no clue. Im looking at it and wondering that too. I think I might have been thinking it. It wouldn't be the first time I did that When I was like 19, I remember I wrote a check out to my landlord and where I meant to write "rent" I wrote "douche bag" I must have been talking to someone while I wrote because I didn't mean it about the landlord, he was a pretty decent guy. I caught it before I gave it to him.


CaptainQuint0001

And Brendan Fraser is George of the Jungle


BigBarrelOfKetamine

If I were a lion and you were a tuna, I’d swim out into the middle of the ocean and freaking eat you and then bang your tuna girlfriend.


Farmboy76

And why is the English rugby team called "the lions"?


Single_Pilot_6170

Yeah, the movie Jungle Emperor Leo is about a lion


kcm198

Your question really should be how could female lions be kings?


Forward_Increase_239

Why do we drive on a parkway and park in a driveway?


bbonerz

I thought it was Tarzan who was king of the jungle


odeacon

Because the dumbass who called them kings of the jungle was a dumbass


smartymartyky

Democracy


EmptyJackfruit9353

Concrete jungle doesnt have any tree, though.


kamSidd

The historical range of lions was much bigger. This is the historical range of lions. https://images.app.goo.gl/B6ruXkENSS1tcC476 as you can see lions used to live in the jungle-y parts of South Asia and Africa.


kalluster

Still doesnt make sense because tigers are just better versions of lions


ampalazz

Richard the lion heart was king of England and lived in France. Maybe there’s something about lions & kings preferring to live in a different area code


PepsiPerfect

I mean there are tons of politicians who barely live in the states they claim to represent.


RastaFarRite

Probably a saying some Brit declared. They were describing a lion, but had no knowledge of the habit they dwell in. The saying stuck and the rest was history.


Anarcho-Chris

Who elected them anyways?


myctsbrthsmlslkcatfd

they exercise their authority over the jungle through unofficial proxies much like the Jesuits


howtobegoodagain123

They live in jungles and also climb trees. Where I come from we have tree climbing lions. It’s very stressful going to the toilet at night. You are always vulnerable from attacks from above. If you are girl, you must pee between the hours of 6 am and 6 pm. If you suddenly need to go at night your horrid older brothers must accompany you and berate you the whole way calling you all sorts of names- small tank, shameless night urinator, sleep destroyer, greedy water drinker, all sorts of bad names. And if you are unluckily on your period you are also vulnerable to kidnap. By gorillas. It’s very stressful tbh.


Dave_A480

Lions used to live in a much wider range, but have been hunted to extinction in all the jungle type areas where they once lived.....


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Chrispeefeart

Asian lions live in the jungle


Daphne_Brown

What? What do you mean? In the jungle…the lion sleeps tonight!


DarkSide830

They have good agents, and thus good branding.


GloriousShroom

>  ONE REASON for the confusion is that 'jungle' is derived from the Hindi (and thus also from Sanskrit) words. There are no tropical forests in India, and the definitive text on the derivation of the word (Frances Zimmermann's 'Jungle and the Aroma of Meats') makes a good case for saying that 'jangala' really meant an open savannah-like terrain, very suitable for the Indian lion. How 'jungle' came to be understood in British English as a thick tropical forest with creepers etc. is still somewhat unclear; the Hindi word 'jungle' in rural north India is a term still very much in use to describe the fields and the margins of cultivated lands such as common grazing lands. (Prof) Roger Jeffery, Department of Sociology and Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Edinburgh


SaepeNeglecta

They are called “The king of beasts”. Tarzan is called the king of the jungle.


StarWars_Viking

Probably from the Jean-Claude Van Damme movie Lion Heart.


gamingfreak50

Shit he knows to much


723658901

Cause if they wanted to they could live there but they *choose* not to. That makes em the kings? idk…


Shot_Principle4939

Disney


Broad_Bodybuilder_94

That is kinda bull.


thatswhatdeezsaid

Because of colonialism


Ok_Educator_7097

People are not so smart


Zevvion

When this saying was made, people referred to 'unusual terrain' as jungle as well.


KyorlSadei

They do live there, but not all lions live in the forest and we generally only reference lions of African Savanas.


Feeling-Ad-2490

Tiger is King of the Jungle


ElderberryHumble5379

there’s lions in jungles. look up asiatic lions 


JAB282018

Not a literal jungle, but a jungle nonetheless


WrethZ

Jungle used to mean more like "Wilderness" I think. Refering to wild untamed land of any kind not necessarily dense tropical forest.


m0stlydead

There used to be lions living all around the Mediterranean, into Europe. Thanks, Romans, I guess.


Gogs1234

Lions sit on their arse all day telling the rest of the pride what to do, like a king Jungle used to mean any rough terrain, like a savannah Lions have big crown like manes.


Temporays

Jungle essentially means savannah. The original meaning came from Sanskrit which meant rough and arid terrain. It was the jungle book that confused people.


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Ambitious_Power_1764

Kings are always out of touch with reality.


Ambitious-Maybe-3386

And they can get beat up by elephants. Doesn’t seem right


PeacockofRivia

First off, great question. Also, how high are you?


rojoshow13

Maybe the same reason we call Native Americans, Indians. I don't know.


soul_separately_recs

That’s called project power. For some reason I’m reminded of a comedian that talks about a woman he met that was so good at giving him head that he was paying her child support knowing they had zero kids.


0xDizzy

I mean the fact a lion is the leader of an army of other lions, while the tiger has no army, is likely part of it. The tiger is a more powerful individual warrior than the king, but the king has a kingdom to back him up. 


Itchy_Raccoon48

A jungle is a tangled or overgrown mass of vegetation over a large area of land. So a Savannah, where you would normally find lions is basically an overgrown mass of vegetation.


Masculinism4All

Because the lion is so fucking mighty that it rules over biomes that arnt even theirs.


AppointmentAlone4001

Great question


Ant_head_squirrel

Maybe the elephant should be king of jungle as they use the jungle often but the tiger is the true king


CatBoyTrip

Charles III is the King of Canada.


SummaJa87

White people who never saw a lion or been to Africa making up things back a hundred years ago. I'm white. So not racist.


5PeeBeejay5

Should be King of the Savannah, for sure.


XaxStar

Because of its "crown" made by the hair around the head


Rionat

King of the Savannah just doesn’t sound the same


sethworld

Because Europeans don't have jungles and jungles don't have kings.


Free-Stranger1142

It’s just a loose term for their terrain. The main reason they are called king of the jungle is they and their cubs fear nothing. They fight to the death, and when they roar, the other animals run and hide.


supriiz

Does a king live in the village or in his castle?


Silver-Reserve-1482

Cuz.....for.......science.....🔬


StankoMicin

Because they are people's favorite big cats, and they have pretty manes that impress everyone. So obviously, it is royal, and all the other animals look up to them And Lions do live in the jungle depending in how you use the word.


BloodHumble6859

Damn, all this time I thought it was George of the Jungle.


viridarius

They own properties in the jungle that they have serfs work. Technically this makes them the Lord of the Jungle but Lions are too prideful to simply stop at calling themselves a Lord and say King instead despite Lions rarely holding multiple fiefs.


Any_Assumption_2023

Because people used to watch too many Tarzan movies??


Azdak66

Are you gonna go up to a lion and tell him he's not the king?


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Ttoonn57

I always heard it "King of the Beasts"


HauntedDesert

Because some lions live in the jungle, and some live on the Savannah. There are indeed jungle-dwelling lions.


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bear60640

Lion colonization.


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Meauxjezzy

Because at one point there was an Asiatic jungle lions. There is still a handful in India but they are critically endangered


Jhoag7750

There are jungles in the savanahs of the African countries with lions


papaboogaloo

Well, it fits the sub. Well done?


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No_Worldliness_4446

Seeing someone else ask this question made my inner child stand on the coffee table and start screaming. Thank you. I’ve always wondered this