{{short description|Remote or unsophisticated area}} {{hatnote group| {{Other uses}} {{Distinguish|Boondoggle}} {{redirect|The sticks||Stick (disambiguation)}} }} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2011}} {{Use American English|date=April 2021}} [[File:State Route 2003 in Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 13.JPG|thumb|A road in the boondocks of Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 13, Sullivan County, Pennsylvania]]

The '''boondocks''' is an American expression from the Tagalog (Filipino) word ''bundók'' ("mountain"). It originally referred to a remote rural area,<ref name=TSBED>{{cite book | editor = Williams, Edwin B. | title = The Scribner-Bantam English Dictionary | edition = Revised | publisher = Bantam Books | date = September 1991 | page = [https://archive.org/details/scribnerbantamen00edwi/page/105 105] | isbn = 978-0-553-26496-8 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/scribnerbantamen00edwi/page/105 }}</ref> but now is often applied to an out-of-the-way location considered backward and unsophisticated by city folk. It can also occasionally refer to a mountain in both Filipino and American contexts.<ref>{{cite book | title = The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language | publisher=Houghton Mifflin | location = Boston| title-link=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language }}</ref>

==Origins== The expression was introduced to American English by U.S. military personnel fighting in the Philippine–American War (1899–1902).<ref>{{cite book | last = Clay | first = Grady | title = Real Places | publisher=University of Chicago Press | location = Chicago | year = 1998 | isbn = 978-0-226-10949-7 |pages=180–181 |chapter=Boondocks |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qfmnW94LS7YC&q=boondocks&pg=PA180}}</ref><ref name=kramer>{{cite book | last = Kramer | first = Paul | title = The Blood of Government | publisher=University of North Carolina Press | location = Chapel Hill | year = 2006 | isbn = 978-0-8078-5653-6 |pages=33–34}}</ref> It derives from the Tagalog word "''bundók''",<ref group="note">From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian ''*bunduk'' ("higher ground"), ultimately from Proto-Austronesian ''*bunduk'' ("higher ground")</ref> which means "mountain".<ref>{{cite book | last = Heller | first = Louis | title = The Private Lives of English Words | publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul | location = London | year = 1984 | isbn = 978-0-7102-0006-8 |page=20 |chapter=boondocks |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0KI9AAAAIAAJ&q=boondocks&pg=PA20}}</ref><ref name=brock>{{cite web|last=Brock|first=Emily K.|title= Emily K. Brock. Bundok—Filipino|url=http://www.environmentandsociety.org/content/bundok-filipino|work=Environment & Society Portal|publisher=Rachel Carson Center for Environment & Society|access-date=21 May 2014}}</ref><ref name="bunduk">{{cite web |author=Robert Blust & Stephen Trussel|title=Austronesian Comparative Dictionary: *bunduk |url=http://www.trussel2.com/acd/acd-s_b.htm#25702 |website=Austronesian Comparative Dictionary |access-date=21 October 2018}}</ref> According to military historian Paul A. Kramer, the term originally had "connotations of bewilderment and confusion", due to the guerrilla warfare in which the soldiers were engaged.<ref name=kramer/>

In the Philippines, the word ''bundók'' is also a colloquialism referring to rural inland areas, which are usually mountainous and difficult to access, as most major cities and settlements in the Philippines are located in lowlands or near the coastline.<ref name=brock/> Equivalent terms include the Spanish-derived ''probinsiya'' ("province") and the Cebuano term ''bukid'' ("mountain").<ref group="note">From Proto-Austronesian ''*bukij'' ("mountain", "forested inland mountain areas")</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/20120724200801/http://www.dailymirror.ph/Dec/opinion12162009&03.html "What A English" by Jon Joaquin.]</ref><ref name="bukij">{{cite web |author=Robert Blust & Stephen Trussel|title=Austronesian Comparative Dictionary: *bukij |url=http://www.trussel2.com/acd/acd-s_b.htm#25647 |website=Austronesian Comparative Dictionary |access-date=21 October 2018}}</ref> When used generally, the term refers to a mountainous area with a connotation of being rustic or uncivilized. When referring to people ({{lang|tl|taga-bundok}} or {{lang|tl|probinsiyano}} in Tagalog; {{lang|ceb|taga-bukid}} in Cebuano; English: "someone who comes from the mountains/provinces"), it is sometimes used to connote a stereotype of naive or boorish countryside dwellers.

==Expanded meanings== The term evolved into American slang to refer to ''the countryside'' or isolated rural/wilderness area, regardless of topography or vegetation. Similar slang or colloquial words are "the sticks", "the wops", "the backblocks", or "Woop Woop" in Australia, "the wop-wops" or "the back blocks" in New Zealand, "bundu" in South Africa (unrelated to "boondocks" or "bundok"), "out in the weeds" in New Brunswick and "out in the tules" in California. The diminutive "boonies" can be heard in films about the Vietnam War such as Brian De Palma's ''Casualties of War'' (1989) used by American soldiers to designate rural areas of Vietnam.

Boondocking refers to camping with a recreational vehicle (RV) in a remote location without the electricity, water, or sewer infrastructure that is available at campgrounds or RV parks.

==In popular culture==

* "Down in the Boondocks", a hit song from the 1965 titular album by Billy Joe Royal * ''The Boondocks'', a 1996 comic strip and the adult animated sitcom adapted from it * ''The Boondock Saints'', a 1999 American vigilante action thriller film written and directed by Troy Duffy * "Boondocks", a song by Little Big Town from their 2005 album ''The Road to Here'' * Boondox, the name of a neighboring town in the 2005 video game ''Animal Crossing: Wild World''

==See also== * Boonie hat * Hillbilly * Hinterland * Jíbaro * Middle of nowhere * Podunk * Waikikamukau * Yokel

==Notes== {{Reflist|group=note}}

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boondocks}} Category:Pejorative terms Category:Rural culture in the United States Category:Rural geography Category:Stereotypes of rural people Category:Tagalog words and phrases