Not sure if it's one word Boondocks or two Boon Docks...where did the term come from, is there a real boon docks? **************************************************************
02-22-05, 07:27 PM
frankvan
One entry found for boondocks.


Main Entry: boon·docks
Pronunciation: 'bün-"däks
Function: noun plural
Etymology: Tagalog bundok mountain
1 : rough country filled with dense brush
2 : a rural area : STICKS
**************************************************************
02-22-05, 07:48 PM
kittypal
Thanks FV!!! Smile
**************************************************************
02-22-05, 07:56 PM
Georgia85
Yup, in the south boondocks means number 2 definition - it's the sticks! It's as country and isolated as you can get. But ironically when I was 3 and living in Madagascar that area was referred to as the boondocks too (by the air force personnel).
**************************************************************
02-23-05, 07:32 AM
methos
Not sure what "in the South" has to do with it. It means the same near the edge of the US-Canadian border where I grew up Wink.

A little more on where it came from:

1910s, from Tagalog bundok "mountain." Adopted by occupying American soldiers in the Philippines for "remote and wild place." Reinforced or re-adopted during World War II. Hence, also boondockers "shoes suited for rough terrain" (1953).
etymonline.com
**************************************************************
02-23-05, 11:53 AM
DorianGreyed
The Boonies are about 50 miles or so on the other side of Podunk, I think.
**************************************************************
02-23-05, 06:51 PM
kittypal
Thanks guys, I knew what the term meant, I just wasn't sure if it was a real place like Timbuktu or if it was more like BFE...can I say BFE here Dor??? Smile
**************************************************************
02-23-05, 07:28 PM
DorianGreyed
No, you can't, but that is also located on the other side of Podunk, near East J.
**************************************************************
02-24-05, 01:52 PM
Georgia85
BFE?
**************************************************************
02-24-05, 03:59 PM
kittypal
LMAO Georgia, ummm that would be Butt * Egypt...I think you can come up with the F??? Smile
**************************************************************
02-25-05, 08:06 AM
Georgia85
Kitty - guess I am not up on the latest lingo - never heard of that phrase before!
**************************************************************
02-25-05, 10:29 AM
MommyTimesTwo
We always said "East Bum ****".

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Koz, 02-25-05 10:27 AM
**************************************************************
02-25-05, 05:42 PM
kittypal
LMAO...Mommy got edited!!!! Razz

MTT even lived in BFE for a time!!! Smile
**************************************************************
02-25-05, 07:18 PM
MommyTimesTwo
No, I lived in north BFE!

Big Grin
**************************************************************
02-25-05, 07:47 PM
Georgia85
Where do you all come up with these names? I have no idea what you are talking about!
**************************************************************
02-26-05, 10:57 AM
MommyTimesTwo
Here is the definition and origin of "boondocks", which was given above anyway.

BFE and the others are just regional variations on that. For example, I'm from the north east, so we say "east bum ____". In Alaska, they said "boondockies", which meant a place that was out in the middle of no where, but not as no where as the villages in the Bush. Some places say "Timbucktoo" or something like that. It varies by region but most regions have such a term--and by it, they usually mean themselves Wink
**************************************************************
02-26-05, 11:38 PM
Georgia85
Oh, so we've got regional sayings going on...well in GA it's "the boonies".
**************************************************************
02-27-05, 07:57 AM
MommyTimesTwo
Boonies is short for Boondocks. Smile

Regional sayings are funny, especially when you use them outside of the region they're from. Back home, a crisp cold day is "colder than a witch's ___". Say that down here and people think you're grow a second head Razz
**************************************************************
02-27-05, 02:59 PM
Georgia85
Now we'll say that in GA. Just where exactly are you now Mx2? Florida?
**************************************************************
02-27-05, 03:01 PM
MommyTimesTwo
If I told you, I'd have to kill you. Muah ha ha haaa.

But close enough.
**************************************************************
02-27-05, 08:58 PM
jusork
It seems like sayingings that we call regional aren't as regional as we think, huh?

quote:
Originally posted by MommyTimesTwo:
"colder than a witch's ___".



Does the blank start with a 'p'?

Being from Alaska, you could probably be in Maryland or Texas and it'd still be close enough to Florida. Roll Eyes
**************************************************************
02-28-05, 06:16 AM
MommyTimesTwo
No, it doesn't start with a P. So I guess it isn't what you assumed, and is regional, huh? Razz
**************************************************************
02-28-05, 01:07 PM
Georgia85
Mx2, in GA it starts with a "T" Wink
**************************************************************
02-28-05, 05:25 PM
MommyTimesTwo
It does in NY too. I'm pretty sure it's an East Coast thing. Big Grin
**************************************************************
02-28-05, 07:04 PM
bedstor
I'm going off topic slightly
In North America Do people say things when asked they are "Living in the Sticks or Smoke "?
Smoke= City or Big town. Sticks= Country(or outskirts of town) or is it a British expression?
**************************************************************
02-28-05, 08:14 PM
MommyTimesTwo
Living in the sticks is used here. Never heard the "smoke". I've lived on the East Coast and the far, FAR north west. Can't say for others.
**************************************************************
03-01-05, 04:36 AM
FredPuli
The Big Smoke or Smoke used to mean London. Air pollution was so bad that we had killer smogs (from smoke and fog ). The London fogs of Dickens day were just that.It may be that nowhere in America had that combination of river,just the right fairly low temperatures, a low 'bowl' with hills all around, and millions of houses all burning coal, so 'smoke' was not the first word that came to mind for Chicago, New York and other big cities.
**************************************************************
03-01-05, 07:30 AM
MommyTimesTwo
That is very interesting! I always wondered why novels set in like the 1800s or so talked about the smell in London. I couldn't figure out how they had smog before industry (over here, we generally associate smog with factories and car pollution). Never thought of the obvious--coal. Thank you!
**************************************************************
03-01-05, 12:39 PM
bedstor

quote:
Originally posted by MommyTimesTwo:
I always wondered why novels set in like the 1800s or so talked about the smell in London.... Never thought of the obvious--coal...


The "smell" in London (in the 19th century) thats going onto another topic this was Due to the drainage issue which meant raw sewage was discharged into the Thames
For details on how it got cleared up I'd recommend you look up any material about Sir Joseph Bazalgette or keywords London sewage
Here is a good starting point Link was featured on a very good documentary on TV last year (the whole series was
of the same quality)links to them off this page
Regarding the coal "smell" I think it was the High sulphur type which produces this
The Clean Air Act of 1956 paved the way through the years into the London you see now
Here is what it did plus several acts since
NOTE An "Act" in this context is an "Act(ion)" of Parliament AKA a law Smile
**************************************************************
03-01-05, 02:14 PM
MommyTimesTwo
Bedstor

That is absolutely VILE! No wonder there was a plague outbreak like every summer for so many years.

I thought reading about how it was when my great-grandparents came to NYC ("Gangs of New York" era) was pretty disgusting. That takes the nasty taco!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: DorianGreyed,