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
Politics and the English Language and Orwell himself concedes that if you look back through his essay, "for certain you will find that I have again and again committed the very faults I am protesting against". Rodden also says that Terry Eagleton had praised the essay's demystification of political language but had later become disenchanted with Orwell. Linguist Geoffrey Pullumdespite being an admirer of Orwell's writingcriticised the essay for "its insane and unfollowable insistence that good writing must avoid all phrases and word uses that are familiar". Orwell's admonition to avoid using the passive voice has also been criticised. Merriam–Webster's Dictionary of English Usage refers