Podunk - Wiktionary

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• Beginning
• 1 English Toggle English subsection
  • 1.1 Alternative forms
  • 1.2 Etymology
  • 1.3 Pronunciation
  • 1.4 Noun
  • 1.5 Proper noun
    • 1.5.1 Synonyms
    • 1.5.2 Translations
  • 1.6 See also
  • 1.7 References

• Entry
• Discussion

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In other projects Appearance move to sidebar hide From Wiktionary, the free dictionary See also: podunk

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:PodunkWikipedia

Alternative forms

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• podunk

Etymology

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From an Eastern Algonquian, likely Loup A, word or words. Similar names were applied to various small and generally unknown places. By the late 19th century the word came to mean an obscure small town, a use possibly popularized by Mark Twain (see quotation). Carlton[1] and Reed[2] survey similar place names and note a transformation from Potaecke to Potunke to Podunk. Carlton suggests a derivation from the adjective petukque ("round"). Tooker[3] compares Ojibwe petobeg (“bog”) (as Chippewa) and Abenaki poteba (“to sink in the mire”) and divides the word into pot- ("to sink") and -unk (locative). Algonquian expert Ives Goddard says[4] "We have no idea what the word means. You'll be able to find guesses in the sources if you look around. Don't believe any of it."

Pronunciation

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• IPA(key): /ˈpoʊdʌŋk/

Noun

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Podunk (plural Podunks)

1. A member of a Native American people who spoke an Algonquian Quiripi language and lived primarily in modern-day Hartford County, Connecticut.

Proper noun

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Podunk

1. (US) A mythical small town of no importance. [from 19th c.]
   • 1869, Mark Twain, Mr. Beecher and the Clergy‎[3]:They even know it in Podunk, wherever that may be.
   • [1877, John Russell Bartlett, Dictionary of Americanisms‎[4], 4th edition, page 791:Podunk. A term applied to an imaginary place in burlesque writing or speaking.]
   • 1933 February 2, F. W. Buxton, Boston Herald:Podunk, like Atlantis, has no locus. Sought often, it is unfound and apparently unfindable.
   • 2007 November 15, Scott Miller, “This verdict's already in: Bonds won't hit No. 763”, in CBS Sports‎[5]:This isn't some Podunk charge in some Podunk court. Charged with four counts of perjury and one of obstruction of justice, Bonds, if convicted, could be sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in prison.

Synonyms

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• (mythical small town of no importance): backwater, hog waller, hog island, hog town, jerkwater town, one-horse town

Translations

[edit] mythical small town of no importance

Betawi: tempat jin buang anak Danish: Østre Bøvelse Dutch: Schubbekutteveen n (Netherlands), Nergenshuizen n French: Trifouillis-les-Oies (fr) German: Hintertupfingen (de) Italian: vattelapesca Malay: negeri antah-berantah (Classical) Negeri Sembilan Malay: ontahmano Polish: Pcim Dolny m (also an actual location), Pipidówka f Romanian: Cuca Măcăii, Cucuieții din Deal Russian: тьмутарака́нь (ru) (tʹmutarakánʹ), Мухосра́нск (ru) (Muxosránsk) (obscene, "Midgeshatville") Sarawak Malay: tempat jin bertendang Scottish Gaelic: Lùb a' Gheòidh Ukrainian: звідкілясь (zvidkiljasʹ) ("from somewhere"), хтозна-звідки (xtozna-zvidky) ("who knows where"), чортзна-де (čortzna-de) ("devil knows where")

See also

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• Thesaurus:remote place
• Category:Fictional locations (Wikipedia)
• Placeholder name § Geographical locations (Wikipedia)

References

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1. ^ W. R. Carlton (February 1938), “Podunk”, in American Speech, volume 14, number 1, →JSTOR, pages 73-76
2. ^ Allen Walker Reed (February 1938), “The Rationale of 'Podunk'”, in American Speech, volume 14, number 1, →JSTOR, pages 99-108
3. ^ William Wallace Tooker (1911), “Potunk”, in The Indian place-names on Long island and islands adjacent, with their probable significations‎[1], pages 196-197
4. ^ Leah Donnella (20 September 2019), “Some 'Podunk' Town In The Middle Of Nowhere”, in Code Switch: Word Watch‎[2]

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Podunk&oldid=88450611" Categories:

• English terms borrowed from Eastern Algonquian languages
• English terms derived from Eastern Algonquian languages
• English terms borrowed from Loup A
• English terms derived from Loup A
• English 2-syllable words
• English terms with IPA pronunciation
• English lemmas
• English nouns
• English countable nouns
• English proper nouns
• English uncountable nouns
• American English
• English terms with quotations
• en:Fictional locations
• English placeholder terms

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