boondoggle
English
WOTD – 16 May 2006
A scouting boondoggle
Etymology
Coined by Robert H. Link, American scout, 1929; alternatively “boon doggle”.[1] Compare woggle of similar sense, attested in same period.
In sense of “wasteful government program”, popularized in 1935 by The New York Times, in reference to New Deal programs which were claimed to feature people making such braids.[2]
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈbuːndɒɡl̩/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈbundɑɡl̩/
Audio (US) (file)
Noun
boondoggle (plural boondoggles)
- (especially Scouting) A braided ring to hold a neckerchief.
- Synonym: woggle
- (Canada, US, figuratively) A waste of time and/or money; a pointless activity.
- Coordinate term: white elephant
- Opponents consider this another billion-dollar government boondoggle.
- 2014 November 6, Rob Nixon, “Naomi Klein’s ‘This Changes Everything’”, in New York Times:
- Klein dismantles the boondoggle that is cap and trade.
- 2005, Nicholas Johnson, “Chapter 3 Notes”, in Big Dead Place, →ISBN:
- By its strictest definition, a boondoggle is a recreational trip out of town, but it has been blurred by threadbare jokes to mean any trip that is desirable, whether for work or not.
Translations
woggle — see woggle
pointless activity
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Verb
boondoggle (third-person singular simple present boondoggles, present participle boondoggling, simple past and past participle boondoggled)
- (intransitive) To waste time on a pointless activity.
References
- Michael Quinion (1996–2023), “Boondoggle”, in World Wide Words.
- “$3,187,000 relief is spent to teach jobless to play; $19,658,512 voted for April; 'Boon Doggles' Made”, in New York Times, 1935-04-04
Further reading
boondoggle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia