jungle telegraph
- noun
- Archaic
:
telégrafo de la selva
- In our small town, the jungle telegraph ensures that everyone knows the latest gossip almost instantly.
Examples
-
The news of the celebrity's breakup spread through the jungle telegraph before the official announcement was made.
-
Now, the message goes ahead by the jungle telegraph.
-
And the jungle telegraph moves quickly: within two days, everyone I know had heard, but so what, they didn't believe it or felt threatened by it.
Fiction book (1991) -
Thanks to the jungle telegraph, the entire community was aware of the fundraiser within hours.
Synonyms
27
7.8
Rumors people tell each other about events or people
27
3.5
Rumor spread by people talking rather than by officials
11
8.8
Rumor or gossip, often not confirmed and shared informally
7
4.5
A group or network that spreads gossip and stories not checked for truth
An informal way people pass news and rumors by talking
News people share that is not official, often as a rumor
How Widespread
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun 'telegraph' clearly signals a fast communication network, so a learner will likely infer the phrase relates to rapid spread of information; however 'jungle' is used metaphorically (dense, chaotic or competitive environment) rather than literally and does not directly specify rumours or informality. The combined sense is a metaphorical extension that most B1 learners could approximate but not fully predict without exposure or cultural context, so it is partially transparent.
Etymology
The phrase jungle telegraph comes from the picture of messages moving fast through a busy wild place. Jungle suggests a crowded, noisy area and telegraph an old fast message system, so the phrase means 'an informal network for the quick spread of news or rumors'.