Podunk

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Biography

In American English , Podunk , podunk , or Podunk Hollow denotes or describes a place of small size or "suburb", and is often used in the upper case as a placeholder name in a context of dismissing significance or importance.

Etymology

The word, of Algonquian languages|Algonquian origin, denoted both the Podunk people and marshy locations.

The earliest citation in the Dictionary of American Regional English is from Samuel Griswold Goodrich 's 1840 book, "The Politician of Podunk":
:Solomon Waxtend was a shoemaker of Podunk, a small village of New York some forty years ago.
The book portrays Waxtend as being drawn by his interest in public policy|public affairs into becoming a representative in the New York State Assembly|General Assembly , finding himself unsuited to the role, and returning to his trade. It is unclear whether the author intended to evoke more than Podunk, Ulysses, New York|the place near Ulysses, New York by the name "Podunk". Possibly the term was meant to exemplify "plain, honest people", as opposed to more sophisticated people with questionable values.

In 1869, Mark Twain wrote the article "Mr. Beecher and the Clergy" defending a friend, the Rev. Thomas Kinnicut Beecher|Thomas K. Beecher , whose preaching had come under criticism. In it he said:
: They even know it in Podunk, wherever that may be. It excited a two-line paragraph there.
At the time he was living in Buffalo, New York , moving to Hartford, Connecticut in 1871, in a home within of the Podunk River). Elmira, New York|Elmira , where Twain had lived earlier, is within of Podunk, New York, so it is not clear which to village Twain was referring.

An 1875 documentation of dismissive usage is:
:Sometimes the newest State, or the youngest county or town of a State is nicknamed "Old Podunk," or whatever it may be, by its affectionate inhabitants, as though their home was an ancient figure in national history.

The origin of the term has also been credited to a former village in East Brookfield, Massachusetts named Podunk after Quaboag Pond , which was once named Podunk Pond.

Places named Podunk

The United States Board on Geographic Names lists five places named "Podunk":

Podunk, Connecticut, an area of the town of Guilford, Connecticut|Guilford in New Haven County, Connecticut|New Haven County

Podunk, New York , a hamlet in the town of Ulysses in Tompkins County, New York|Tompkins County

Podunk, Vermont, an area of the town of Wardsboro, Vermont|Wardsboro in Windham County, Vermont|Windham County

Three places, over apart, in Michigan :

* Podunk, Michigan, a community on Podunk Lake in Barry County, Michigan|Barry County

* Podunk, Michigan, a crossroads in Gladwin County, Michigan|Gladwin County

* Podunk, Michigan, an alternative name for Rogers City , MI in Presque Isle County, Michigan

Other areas known as Podunk include:

An area of East Hartford, Connecticut in the Podunk River basin including Vinton's Pond

An area nine miles (14& nbsp;km) south of Shattuck, Oklahoma (now a ghost town ) in Ellis County, Oklahoma|Ellis County

An area in Dixie National Forest containing a guard station known as the Podunk Guard Station.

Within Worcester County, Massachusetts (and involving three New England town s, each adjacent to at least one of the other two):

* Podunk, an unincorporated area in East Brookfield, Massachusetts|East Brookfield , according to The Straight Dope

* The Podunk Pike, which runs from Sturbridge, Massachusetts|Sturbridge , north through East Brookfield, Massachusetts|East Brookfield , and into Spencer, Massachusetts|Spencer .

An area of northwestern Rhode Island WNW of Pascoag

An alternative spelling; "Podonque" is found as the name of a road leading into a settlement area (intersection of County roads 23 and 243) which is still sparsely populated, believed to having been established in the 1800s as: Podonque, Town of Rushford, New York , Allegany County, NY.

Podunk cemetery in Vermont on a private farm of the Newton family.

Poeville, Nevada a ghost town nicknamed Poedunk after John Poe founder of the mining camp.

An area near the Erie Canal lift bridge in Holley, New York .

Podunk, Wisconsin, a now defunct town containing a sizable Bradner, Charnley & Co. logging camp, in Door County , Wisconsin.

In fiction

The loading dock in Steamboat Willie (1928), the first Disney cartoon to feature synchronized sound, is named "Po Dunk Landing".

The protagonist in Secret of Evermore lives in a town called "Podunk".

In the cancelled translation of Mother (video game)|Mother for NES the Main character's home is a town called Podunk.

Copyright Citations

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