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What is the word for monkey keeping facilities at the zoo? Birds are kept in an aviary, monkeys are kept in a ___.

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I was just going to say "cage". – onomatomaniak Dec 15 '11 at 21:40
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You have a few answers to get your started, but we're really trying to avoid using this site for "single word requests." If you have a particularly interesting problem to solve, all we ask is that you put a bit of effort and research into the question. See: meta.english.stackexchange.com/questions/1654/… or meta.english.stackexchange.com/questions/2160/… – Robert Cartaino♦ Dec 16 '11 at 6:16

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3 Answers

up vote 8 down vote

In every zoo I can recall, it is called the Monkey House.

(Though I'd like to say the apiary, just for fun).

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Definitely Apiary :-), but you are correct - it is Monkey House everywhere. – Rory Alsop Dec 15 '11 at 21:14
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Wait a second! Apiary doesn't mean...oh... – Chris B. Behrens Dec 15 '11 at 21:34
:-( When we have great words like Arboretum... I was really hoping for something a little grander sounding than Monkey House. – Lee Quarella Dec 15 '11 at 21:45
I also immediately thought of the "apiary" zinger. Great minds... ;-) – Jonathan VM Dec 15 '11 at 21:56
No one went for "buffoonery" yet. – Lee Quarella Dec 15 '11 at 22:06
up vote 4 down vote

Most zoos call the monkey house the Monkey House, and a few call it a Primate House or other. Examples: Helen Brach Primate House at Lincoln Park Zoo, Primate House at Saint Louis Zoo, and Monkey Junction at the Philadelphia Zoo. The Bronx Zoo Monkey House used to be called the Primate House.

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As the decades roll by, I imagine more and more people feel slightly squeamish about calling it the primate house. Or indeed, having one at all. – FumbleFingers Dec 15 '11 at 21:35
Actually, Gary Larson has a cartoon of Tarzan coming in on Jane with her perfume, saying something like "Who-ee, it smells like a French Primate House in here!" – mickeyf Dec 15 '11 at 23:45
@FumbleFingers: any reason why squeamish? Is it the sound of the word? Some connotation? – Mitch Dec 16 '11 at 0:14
@Mitch: I think increasing numbers of people are uneasy about the ethics of keeping animals in zoos, effectively for public entertainment. And that unease rises with more sentient, human-like animals, particularly primates - of which h. sap. is one. – FumbleFingers Dec 16 '11 at 2:42
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Maybe this is being pedantic, but your title says "primates" while the body of your question says "monkeys". "Primates" includes apes and lemurs as well as monkeys. Sometimes the building where apes are housed is called a "monkey house", but I'm sure purists would object to this. I've sometimes heard such a place called the "Primate House" or "Ape House". (Though the former sounds like it's bordering on political correctness to me -- like we're afraid the apes will be offended to be called monkeys.)

I just checked a couple of zoo maps on-line but they didn't really have a name for the place, the maps just labelled it "Apes" or "Primates".

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