Boondocks Boondocks The boondocks is an American expression that stems from the Tagalog word "bundók" ("mountain"). It originally referred to a remote rural area, but now it is often applied to an out-of-the-way city or town considered backward and unsophisticated. It can also designate a 'mountain'. The expression was introduced to English by U.S. military personnel fighting in the Philippine–American War (1899-1902). It derives from the Tagalog word ""bundók"", which means "mountain". 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. In the
Fossa (animal) species name "ferox" is the Latin adjective "fierce" or "wild". Its common name is spelled fossa in English or "fosa" in Malagasy, the Austronesian language from which it was taken, but some authors have adopted the Malagasy spelling in English. The word is similar to "posa" (meaning "cat") in the Iban language (another Austronesian language) from Borneo, and both terms may derive from trade languages from the 1600s. However, an alternative etymology suggests a link to another word that comes from Malay: "pusa" refers to the Malayan weasel ("Mustela nudipes"). The Malay word "pusa" could have become "posa" for cats