letter to the editor
Re: Speech of the Young'ns (http: //www.lalamag.ucla.edu/features/article.asp?parentid=93821) [6/18/2008]:
"Boonies" has made its way through the U.S. military, no doubt, but its origins are in the Philippine American War of 1899-1912. The Tagalog word for mountain is bundok. This got spoken by the Americans as "boondocks." The mountains are places far from the towns and cities where the fun was.
There aren't too many Tagalog words that have made it into English but this is one.
Barbara Gaerlan
Assistant Director, UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies