Words at Play : Favorite Words From Foreign Languages
#7: Boondocks
Language of Origin:
Tagalog
About the Word:
Boondocks (and boonies) both mean "a rural area," particularly one considered backward, dull, or unsophisticated.
In Tagalog, the language that is the base for Filipino, an official language of the Philippines, bundok means "mountains." Following the Philippine Revolution of 1898, the occupying American military forces adopted "boondocks" and broadened its meaning to refer to the wild and rural country they found there.
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