| 释义 |
boondoggle, n. and v. U.S. slang.|ˈbuːndɒg(ə)l|
[Origin unknown.]
A. n.
a. (See quots. 1935.)
b. A trivial, useless, or unnecessary undertaking; wasteful expenditure.
B. v. intr. To engage in trifling or frivolous work. Hence ˈboondoggler, ˈboondoggling.
1935R. Marshall in N.Y. Times 4 Apr. 2 ‘Boon doggles’ is simply a term applied back in the pioneer days to what we call gadgets today. 1935Word Study Sept. 2 Boondoggle was coined for another purpose by Robert H. Link of Rochester. Through his connection with scouting the word later came into general use as a name given to the braided leather lanyard made and worn by Boy Scouts. 1935Chicago Tribune 4 Oct., To the cowboy it meant the making of saddle trappings out of odds and ends of leather, and they boondoggled when there was nothing else to do on the ranch. 1935H. L. Ickes Secret Diary (1953) I. 435, I am for substantial, worth-while, and socially desirable public works, while Hopkins is for what has come to be known as boondoggling. 1937Amer. Speech XII. 6 [In the 1936 American election] boondoggling became the current term for describing the waste assertedly evident in..government agencies and bureaus. Administrators of relief became boondogglers to the Republican press and orators. 1947Chicago Tribune 8 June i. 22/2 The cost of this boondoggle has been estimated at perhaps 50 million dollars. 1949R. K. Merton Social Theory (1951) vi. 178 This eliminates the very rationale of the intellectual's work and dissipates his interest in his work, leading to the ‘boon doggling neurosis’. 1969N.Y. Rev. Books 2 Jan. 5 (heading) Nixon and the arms race: the bomber boondoggle. |