No, no, no. I am certain that "boondock" has its origins in the Pilipino word "bundok." Some etymology: the Philippines was conquered and then colonized by the United States at the turn of the 20th century. One can easily imagine American troops asking the natives where the rebels they were pursuing had fled. "There," they would say, "they fled to this bundok or that bundok." Bundok (pronounced only with short vowel sounds and with accent on the second syllable) is the Pilipino word for mountain. That's how it made its way into American English.
Comments by alexcooper1
alexcooper1 commented on the word boondock
No, no, no. I am certain that "boondock" has its origins in the Pilipino word "bundok." Some etymology: the Philippines was conquered and then colonized by the United States at the turn of the 20th century. One can easily imagine American troops asking the natives where the rebels they were pursuing had fled. "There," they would say, "they fled to this bundok or that bundok." Bundok (pronounced only with short vowel sounds and with accent on the second syllable) is the Pilipino word for mountain. That's how it made its way into American English.
July 20, 2012