This week’s theme
Coined words

This week’s words
droog
blatant
hotsy-totsy
frumious
boondoggle



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Next week’s theme
Words with odd pronunciations

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(BOON-dog-uhl)

MEANING:

noun:	1. A pointless project funded as a political favor.
	2. A holiday trip to an exotic location, disguised as a business trip.
	3. Braided cord, made of plastic strips, fabric, etc.
verb intr.:	1. To do useless or trivial work.
	2. To go on a business trip in which the real purpose is relaxation or fun.
	3. To braid plastic strips, fabric, etc.

ETYMOLOGY:

Coined by scoutmaster Robert H. Link. Earliest documented use: 1929.

NOTES:

The original boondoggle was a braided cord made by Boy Scouts. In 1935, a New York Times article quoted someone criticizing a New Deal program to train jobless to make handicrafts as a boondoggle. Since then this sense of the word has become more common.

USAGE:

“Officials thoroughly understood Seattleites’ concerns that the new arena was a boondoggle benefiting mainly sports franchise owners.”
Bill Mullins; Becoming Big League; University of Washington Press; 2013.

“Jeffrey Neely, the General Services Administration employee pictured in a hot tub sipping wine on taxpayer money, retired with full benefits after the lavish 2010 Las Vegas boondoggle he planned was uncovered in the media.”
Betsy McCaughey; Liberty Belle; Creators Publishing; 2015.

See more usage examples of boondoggle in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: