boondoggle
pronunciation
How to pronounce boondoggle in British English:
UK [ˈbu:ndɒgl]
How to pronounce boondoggle in American English:
US [ˈbundɑgl]
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- Noun:
- work of little or no value done merely to look busy
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- Verb:
- do useless, wasteful, or trivial work
Word Origin
- boondoggle (n.)
- 1935, American English, of uncertain origin, popularized during the New Deal as a contemptuous word for make-work projects for the unemployed. Said to have been a pioneer word for "gadget;" it also was by 1932 a Boy Scout term for a kind of woven braid.
Example
- 1. Our investment in water softeners was a boondoggle .
- 2. A boondoggle ? Have you been lying to us from the start ?
- 3. You decided is this just a boondoggle ?
- 4. In here we have some boondoggle key chains .
- 5. What happens when lyle realises that we sent him on a boondoggle ?