Jungle gyms and monkey bars

[Jonathan Lighter]

I still say "_in_ the playground,"  maybe because those in Central Park
were fenced in.

BTW, I hear "campus" used more and more (and more) as the preferred term
for areal "grounds" of any kind, particularly those related to prisons,
hospitals, and office buildings. Not in OED.

There was a time when it sounded odd to me even when applied to high-school
grounds. It got odder when it hit the elementary schools.

JL

On Thu, May 3, 2012 at 6:59 PM, Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at ix.netcom.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Jungle gyms and monkey bars
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On May 3, 2012, at 12:55 PM, Arnold Zwicky wrote:
>
> > On May 3, 2012, at 3:28 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
> >>
> >> Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_gym) claims they are
> the same thing, but my recollection is they are different. Compare the
> photos on that page (which are jungle gyms to me) to the single row of bars
> at http://lookatmyhappyrainbow.com/monkey-bars/, which to me are monkey
> bars.
> >
> > my recollection (and usage) exactly.  but my grand-daughter uses only
> "monkey bars" (for what is to me a "jungle gym"), and that seems to be her
> school's practice.  (she's a monkey-bar fanatic, and even has gymnast's
> calluses from using them.)
> >
> > so usage varies.
> >
> > arnold
>
> I wonder if those who consider the more complex ones had the simpler type
> as well. On my elementary school playground, we had both, which might
> necessitate or encourage people to differentiate them.
>
> Aloha from Maui
> Benjamin Barrett
>
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