Hi guys,
I was wondering whether anyone knows when & where did the phrase ‘concrete/asphalt jungle’ originate? Who coined it basically? Do post the answers if anyone knows!
Thanx!!!
Well, The Asphalt Jungle was the title of a John Huston movie from 1950 which was based on a novel by the same name. Don’t know if that was where the phrase originated though.
There is an OED cite to the term “Asphalt Jungle” from 1920 thusly
I can’t offer much about what it meant. And, of course, Upton Sinclair started it all in 1906 when he wrote The Jungle.
I think “concrete jungle” is a phrase that appears much later, perhaps the 60’s.
Ok, I’ve never seen the film-- is it a version of Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle”? Or is it adapted from something else?