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Boondoggle
Definitions
- 1 A braided ring to hold a neckerchief.
- 2 work of little or no value done merely to look busy wordnet
- 3 A waste of time or money; a pointless activity. Canada, US, figuratively, usually
"Opponents consider this another billion-dollar government boondoggle."
- 4 A non-work trip away from a research station. slang
"A non-work excursion away from the station in US Antarctic English is a “boondoggle”, or a “jolly” for the Britons."
- 1 To waste time on a pointless activity. intransitive
- 2 do useless, wasteful, or trivial work wordnet
Etymology
Coined by American scout leader Robert H. Link in 1929; alternatively “boon doggle”. Compare woggle of similar sense, which is attested in the same period. In the sense of a “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.
Coined by American scout leader Robert H. Link in 1929; alternatively “boon doggle”. Compare woggle of similar sense, which is attested in the same period. In the sense of a “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.
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