boonies

be in the boonies

To be in a very distant or remote location, often one that lacks modern amenities. "Boonies" is a shortening of "boondocks," which comes from the Tagalog word bundok, meaning "mountain." That place is way out in the boondocks—it'll take us hours to get there. Good luck getting a cell signal out here—we're in the boonies, now! After spending 15 years suffocating in the big city, I am very happy to be in the boonies now.

See also: boonies

in the boondocks

In a very distant or remote location, often one that lacks modern amenities. "Boondocks" comes from the Tagalog word bundok, meaning "mountain," and originated as US military slang. That place is all the way out in the boondocks—it'll take us hours to get there. Good luck getting a cell signal out here in the boondocks. I got tired of living in the boondocks, so I started renting an apartment right in the heart of the city.

See also: boondocks

in the boonies

In a very distant or remote location, often one that lacks modern amenities. "Boonies" is a shortening of "boondocks," which comes from the Tagalog word bundok, meaning "mountain." That place is all the way out in the boonies—it'll take us hours to get there. Good luck getting a cell signal out here in the boonies. I got tired of living in the boonies, so I started renting an apartment right in the heart of the city.

See also: boonies

the boonies

In a very distant or remote location, often one that lacks modern amenities. "Boonies" is a shortening of "boondocks," which comes from the Tagalog word bundok, meaning "mountain." That place is all the way out in the boonies—it'll take us hours to get there. Good luck getting a cell signal out here in the boonies. I got tired of living in the boonies, so I started renting an apartment right in the heart of the city.

See also: boonies

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

*in the boondocks

 and *in the boonies

in a rural area; far away from a city or population. (*Typically: be ~; camp ~; live ~; stay ~.) Perry lives out in the boonies with his parents.

See also: boondocks

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

boonies

n. a remote and undeveloped place. (From boondocks.) He lives out there in the boonies.

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

boonies, the

The provinces, a remote rural area. This slangy term is an abbreviation of boondocks, which comes from the Tagalog word bundok, for “hill” or “mountain.” It was coined by U.S. Marines fighting against Filipino guerrillas after the Spanish-American War (1899–1902) for the rough hill country there. Later American troops in the Philippines during World War II shortened it, and after the war it began to be used more widely as an equivalent for another such term, the sticks, which dates from the early 1900s. W. C. Handy used it in Father of the Blues (1957), “I continued playing for dances, touring on the road and through the sticks.”

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer