# Origin of "Jungle Fever"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 6, 2017, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225 "2017-06-06T00:04:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/1 "2017-06-06T00:04:31Z")
Most people know the term, jungle fever, to mean attraction between black and white people. But where does this term come from? On it’s face, it doesn’t really make sense. What is it about a jungle that helps explain black/white sexual attraction? I don’t get it. Hence the question. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/2 "2017-06-06T00:07:33Z")
Disparaging term, monkeys come from the jungle. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/3 "2017-06-06T00:10:28Z")
I always assumed it was a racial slur in the sense that “Black people come from the jungle because they are subhuman monkeys” way that bigots like to use. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/4 "2017-06-06T00:14:41Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Disparaging term, monkeys come from the jungle. > [@snfaulkner](#): > > I always assumed it was a racial slur in the sense that “Black people come from the jungle because they are subhuman monkeys” way that bigots like to use. Ahhhh, thank you! Ignorance fought, I had no idea. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/5 "2017-06-06T00:17:06Z")
I think it has something to do with “The Law of the Jungle,” as opposed to civilized society. You can sleep with anyone you want, and without the benefit of clergy. The “Law of the Jungle” is also cited when in crisis situations, people steal food from other people, or break other laws of society, because society has broken down due to the crisis. ---
**Author:** ![anomalous1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@anomalous1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anomalous1)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/6 "2017-06-06T00:20:13Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > I always assumed it was a racial slur in the sense that “Black people come from the jungle because they are subhuman monkeys” way that bigots like to use. I’ve heard that term a lot when I was a teen and I never used it because I thought it was distasteful and possibly racist. If what you say is true, I’m glad my suspicions of the term were correct. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/7 "2017-06-06T00:39:53Z")
> [@anomalous1](#): > > I’ve heard that term a lot when I was a teen and I never used it because I thought it was distasteful and possibly racist. If what you say is true, I’m glad my suspicions of the term were correct. I’ve always assumed the term comes from this connection, that black people are from the jungle. See the term “jungle bunny” for black person, for example. Or a parallel construction in the term “yellow fever” (Asian fetishization.) ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/8 "2017-06-06T01:19:24Z")
_Jungle_ is from Hindi _jangal_; it means uncultivated land, particularly heavily grown or overgrown uncultivated land. It came into English in the late 18th century. It wasn’t until the second half of the nineteenth century that it came to be applied to such land in Africa. _Jungle fever_ in the nineteenth century was any remitting/relapsing fever associated with tropical countries, particularly malaria. I don’t know when it first acquired the sense of sexual attraction to a black person. I’ve only ever come across it in this sense in the title of the 1991 Spike Lee film; it may be an Americanism. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/9 "2017-06-06T02:41:56Z")
I thought it was much earlier than the Spike Lee film, but a search only brought up one result, although it’s a goodie. > [@](#): > > Jungle Fever > Jean-Paul Goude > > New York City: Xavier Moreau, 1981. > ISBN: 0937950017 > Condition: Nr Fine. Minor tears to DJ > hardcover > 150 pgs, 10 x 12 inches > > Jungle Fever is a classic eighties style book; an autobiographical work based upon Goude’s unashamed erotic fascination for black and Latino women and style. A highly imaginative and totally original book it contains some of the most penetrating icons of the eighties including many of Grace Jones and Toukie Smith. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/10 "2017-06-06T02:52:03Z")
There is also the 1971 song [jungle fever lyrics - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&hl=en-us&q=jungle+fever+lyrics&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwihxYL0mqjUAhVM0oMKHZCnDXgQ1QIIkgIoBw&biw=1024&bih=729) I’ve got jungle fever, she’s got jungle fever We’ve got jungle fever, we’re in love She’s gone black-boy crazy, I’ve gone white-girl hazy Ain’t no thinking maybe, we’re in love She’s got jungle fever, I’ve got jungle fever We’ve got jungle fever, we’re in love I’ve gone white-girl crazy, she’s gone black-boy hazy We’re each other’s baby, we’re in love… ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/11 "2017-06-06T02:53:54Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Most people know the term, jungle fever, to mean attraction between black and white people. But where does this term come from? On it’s face, it doesn’t really make sense. What is it about a jungle that helps explain black/white sexual attraction? I don’t get it. Hence the question. I’m 72 years old and pretty savvy about words and phrases. I didn’t/don’t know that it means “attraction between black and white people.” It certainly never meant that to me in the 1950s-1990s. Still doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/12 "2017-06-06T02:55:09Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > I’m 72 years old and pretty savvy about words and phrases. I didn’t/don’t know that it means “attraction between black and white people.” It certainly never meant that to me in the 1950s-1990s. Still doesn’t. I’m about to turn 50, and knew that phrase to mean black-white attraction for most of my life. Grew up in NY/NE in the 1970-80s ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/13 "2017-06-06T02:55:26Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > There is also the 1971 song [jungle fever lyrics - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&hl=en-us&q=jungle+fever+lyrics&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwihxYL0mqjUAhVM0oMKHZCnDXgQ1QIIkgIoBw&biw=1024&bih=729) > > I’ve got jungle fever, she’s got jungle fever > We’ve got jungle fever, we’re in love > She’s gone black-boy crazy, I’ve gone white-girl hazy > Ain’t no thinking maybe, we’re in love > She’s got jungle fever, I’ve got jungle fever > We’ve got jungle fever, we’re in love > I’ve gone white-girl crazy, she’s gone black-boy hazy > We’re each other’s baby, we’re in love Great cite. Just not in my view growing up. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/14 "2017-06-06T02:59:26Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Great cite. Just not in my view growing up. Interesting- where did you grow up? ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/15 "2017-06-06T03:27:08Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > There is also the 1971 song [jungle fever lyrics - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&hl=en-us&q=jungle+fever+lyrics&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwihxYL0mqjUAhVM0oMKHZCnDXgQ1QIIkgIoBw&biw=1024&bih=729) > > I’ve got jungle fever, she’s got jungle fever > We’ve got jungle fever, we’re in love > She’s gone black-boy crazy, I’ve gone white-girl hazy > Ain’t no thinking maybe, we’re in love > She’s got jungle fever, I’ve got jungle fever > We’ve got jungle fever, we’re in love > I’ve gone white-girl crazy, she’s gone black-boy hazy > We’re each other’s baby, we’re in love… The lyrics quoted here are from the Stevie Wonder song _Jungle Fever_, which dates from 1991, not 1971. (In fact it’s the title track to the Spike Lee movie.) There is a 1971 _Jungle Fever_ by the Chakachas, a Belgian group. While it’s definitely about sex, it’s hard to say that it’s about race. The lyrics consist largely of moans; the few words that can be made out don’t refer to race or colour. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/16 "2017-06-06T03:31:50Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > The lyrics quoted here are from the Stevie Wonder song _Jungle Fever_, which dates from 1991, not 1971. (In fact it’s the title track to the Spike Lee movie.) > > There is a 1971 _Jungle Fever_ by the Chakachas, a Belgian group. While it’s definitely about sex, it’s hard to say that it’s about race. The lyrics consist largely of moans; the few words that can be made out don’t refer to race or colour. You’re right- I was looking st both and put wrong date with the song I was quoting. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/17 "2017-06-06T03:39:13Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > The lyrics quoted here are from the Stevie Wonder song _Jungle Fever_, which dates from 1991, not 1971. (In fact it’s the title track to the Spike Lee movie.) > > There is a 1971 _Jungle Fever_ by the Chakachas, a Belgian group. While it’s definitely about sex, it’s hard to say that it’s about race. The lyrics consist largely of moans; the few words that can be made out don’t refer to race or colour. You’re right- I was looking st both and put wrong date with the song I was quoting. Interestingly, this cite [meaning - What does "Jungle Fever" mean? - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/214093/what-does-jungle-fever-means) says it’s more about Forbidden love, which black-white love was. 1991 lyrics back this concept up. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/18 "2017-06-06T03:51:03Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I’m about to turn 50, and knew that phrase to mean black-white attraction for most of my life. > > Grew up in NY/NE in the 1970-80s Per [Partridge’s Dictonary of Slang,](https://books.google.com.pa/books?id=mAdUqLrKw4YC&pg=PA1132&lpg=PA1132&dq=jungle+fever+partridge+dictionary+of+slang&source=bl&ots=t2T8aLfkvE&sig=piYxsKifZNDOOQSQjwACmGSuNBw&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=jungle%20fever%20partridge%20dictionary%20of%20slang&f=false) it doesn’t mean simply black-white attraction, but rather attraction by whites to blacks (not vice versa). Partridge gives a date of origin as 1990, but I think I heard the term well before the Spike Lee movie came out. I did not, however, hear it growing up in the Bronx in the 1960s or in college in the 1970s. All of Partridge’s cites are after the movie. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/19 "2017-06-06T03:53:38Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Per [Partridge’s Dictonary of Slang,](https://books.google.com.pa/books?id=mAdUqLrKw4YC&pg=PA1132&lpg=PA1132&dq=jungle+fever+partridge+dictionary+of+slang&source=bl&ots=t2T8aLfkvE&sig=piYxsKifZNDOOQSQjwACmGSuNBw&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=jungle%20fever%20partridge%20dictionary%20of%20slang&f=false) it doesn’t mean simply black-white attraction, but rather attraction by whites to blacks (not vice versa). > > Partridge gives a date of origin as 1990, but I think I heard the term well before the Spike Lee movie came out. I did not, however, hear it growing up in the Bronx in the 1960s or in college in the 1970s. I have vague memories of its use in late 70s early 80s, as a preteen/teen. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/20 "2017-06-06T04:00:00Z")
[Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang](https://books.google.com/books?id=5GpLcC4a5fAC&pg=PA819&dq=jungle+fever+slang&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi_7Krij6jUAhWj5YMKHTYPDncQ6AEIUDAH#v=onepage&q=jungle%20fever%20slang&f=false) says the term goes back to the 60s. Since linking to Google Books can be a little wonky, here’s the definition it gives: > [@](#): > > **jungle fever _n_. 1** [1960s+] (_US_) (_also_ **black fever** ) the desire of Whites (usu. men) to have sex with Black partners. **2** [1990s+] (_US Black_) the desire of Blacks to have White partners. [the term, generally outlawed as racist in White use, changed its emphasis with the release of Spike Lee’s film _Jungle Fever_ in 1991] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225.md?page=2)