Boondoggle (disambiguation)

Boondoggle is a North American arts and crafts activity in which you use flat strings. Originally the term was boon doogle referring to a bone or metal ring used to secure the scarf of a Boy Scout (also called a woggle). American Scoutmaster Robert H. Link (died 1959) is credited with coining the term. From this, the term came to refer to the lanyards worn on the uniform of a scout, or to similar small decorative objects.

A simple boondoggle keychain

Boondoggle has also come to refer in the USA for the plaiting craft known elsewhere as Scoubidou, since many such objects are made by this craft. For examples of "boondoggle" in this sense, refer to the article on the movie Napoleon Dynamite.

Boondoggle also means in the US Navy a "good deal". Usually the act of rest and relaxation by drinking Mai Tais down by the beach when you would otherwise be doing arduous work, e.g., deployed at sea in the Persian Gulf or being a student in the NMITC Ground "C" 3912 Course under the instruction of LT Bailey.

Two spools of plastic lace used for boondoggle keychains

References

Michael Quinion. "BOONDOGGLE". World Wide Words. Retrieved February 19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
"The Origins of the Woggle". The Scout Information Centre: London. Accessed February 19, 2005 (PDF format)
"The Blue Jackets Manual". US Naval Institute Press. Retrieved April 6. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)