Having read your delightful tome; "Ketchup vs Catsup", I was left with a warm fuzzy feeling inside. This was, however, probably due to the hot cup of tea and chocolate cake I had just consumed. But, I digress. One thing I would seek clarification on, is the meaning of the word "boondoggled". The Australian Pocket Oxford Dictionary does not contain any reference to such a word. However, if we split the obvious components of the word, being "boon" and "doggled", I am able to discern some meaning in the word (sub-word); "boon"...meaning "n. request (ask, grant, a ~); a favour, blessing or acquisition." And a "boon companion" is defined as a convivial companion. Am I to assume that a boondoggled is a convivial doggled? (or convivially doggled, for that matter?)
Sincerely
Perplexed
Yackandandah
Australia
Dear Perplexed,
After reading your
perceived explanation of the word “boondoggled” I have to say I bet I'm
even more perplexed than you. Sometimes you can gather the meaning a word
by breaking it down into its components. In this case, considering there
isn’t actually a word “doggled”, forget it. Boondoggled is a word of American
origin which is probably why it was intentionally left out of your Australian
Pocket Oxford Dictionary and, I’d guess, the completely unabridged version,
too. And why? Because it would create such a controversy within the halls
of those premier linguists Oxford Dictionary Ltd. (Australian offices)
as to whether any American word should be accepted as legitimate that it
would boondoggle their entire word picking process. We Americans, of course,
put our language in the faithful hands of Webster who has deemed “boondoggle”
a real word, worthy of use throughout our land. They added “boondoggle”
without so much as a tiny boondoggle. Anyway, I hope that clears things
up for you without creating an even greater boondoggle in your mind.
PS. Regarding "Ketchup vs Catsup".
I was under the impression that neither word was used in Australia and
that you use the words “tomato sauce”, which is what we use for a
canned tomato pureed product only, not the condiment. Luckily I was unaware
of this before I began writing my story, or deciding on the title alone
would have boondoggled my thoughts to the point that I could never have
proceeded.