# Boondocks. Out in, or down in? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 12, 2026, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789 "2026-10-12T19:49:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789/21 "2026-10-13T02:43:59Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Did that come from the tagalog word? Yes. Too lazy to look up an actual cite, so here’s what AI says: > **Birth of “Boonies”:** The clipped form _ **boonies** _ emerged as military slang in the 1950s and gained widespread popularity among U.S. troops during the Vietnam War to refer to the remote, dense jungles and rural countryside outside of urban hubs like Saigon. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789/22 "2026-10-13T02:49:22Z")
I live "_in"_ the actual boondocks. Down, under, into, over at…it all sounds like home to me. ☺ ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789/23 "2026-10-13T03:36:55Z")
To my mind, “down” implies specific relative geography that I don’t associate with the boondocks. “Out” is where the boondocks are. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789/24 "2026-10-13T04:57:52Z")
The boondocks are down by the bay where Bumfuck, Egypt is sited. ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789/25 "2026-10-13T09:09:36Z")
I’ve always said “out in the boondocks.” ---
**Author:** ![Stana\_Claus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stana_claus/32/13874_2.png) [@Stana\_Claus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stana_Claus)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789/26 "2026-10-13T13:12:40Z")
One of the defining features of being out in the boondocks is, when asking one of the locals for directions to somewhere else, the response is “You can’t get there from here. You have to start from somewhere else.” ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789/27 "2026-10-13T14:18:26Z")
> [@Stana\_Claus](#): > > _“You can’t get there from here. You have to start from somewhere else.”_ “And when you get there, turn left where the drive-in theater used to be.” ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789/28 "2026-10-13T18:17:16Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > I’ve always assumed that he’s using the word “down” because the woman he wants to date lives on a hill: “Every night I watch the light from the house up on the hill…” > [@dougrb](#): > > I always preferred sittin’ on them by the bay. If you put these two songs together, it paints a picture of them being set in San Francisco. She lives in a fancy house up on Nob Hill. Meanwhile he’s down at Fisherman’s Wharf, sittin’ on the [boon]dock by The Bay. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789/29 "2026-10-14T00:58:14Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > If you put these two songs together, it paints a picture of them being set in San Francisco. We’re all overlooking the second line of the song. “People put me down because that’s the side of town I was born in.” By [definition](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boondocks) the boondocks is " a remote, thinly settled rural area." It can’t be the wrong part of town, because a town is not “the boondocks.” It doesn’t matter if it’s uphill or downhill from the boss-man’s house, it still isn’t part of town. A far more geographically appropriate set of lyrics would be Lefty Frizzel’s[Saginaw, Michigan.](https://www.google.com/search?q=saginaw+michigan+lyrics&newwindow=1&sca_esv=3876714711009027&rlz=1C1QCTP_enUS1136US1136&sxsrf=APpeQnvWuNukiwYsTfpjf_tOEf0fiPh2MQ%3A1791938113380&ei=Qc7OatrYFo7fruEP8K6BgAQ&oq=sagnina&gs_lp=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&sclient=gws-wiz-serp) That song, which predates DITB by only a year, places the poor but honest son of a fisherman living on the shore of Saginaw Bay, a few miles away from Saginaw proper, where the greedy, snobby father of the girl lives. But that would put the singer on the dock of the bay, which creates another dilemma. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789/30 "2026-10-14T01:15:23Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > But that would put the singer on the dock of the bay, which creates another dilemma. Now, you’re just wasting time. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789/31 "2026-10-14T01:20:26Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > We’re all overlooking the second line of the song. > > “People put me down because that’s the side of town I was born in.” Seems pretty evident the lyricist did not know the definition of “boondocks”, or just liked the sound of the word and figured nobody would notice. IOW: “It ain’t that kind of song Kid” ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789/32 "2026-10-14T01:41:25Z")
I think that, even if he did know the meaning of the word and had heard the phrase “out in the boondocks”, he would have correctly figured that “down in the boondocks” is a better lyric to sing. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789/33 "2026-10-14T01:45:22Z")
Out. ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789/34 "2026-10-14T10:34:06Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > If you put these two songs together Surely there’s a country tune I haven’t heard yet where the singer is “down and out in the boondocks”… ---
**Author:** ![Stana\_Claus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stana_claus/32/13874_2.png) [@Stana\_Claus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stana_Claus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789/35 "2026-10-14T13:12:27Z")
Hey, then they could make a sequel to that 1986 Nick Nolte/Richard Dreyfuss movie classic,“Down and Out in Beverly Hills”. How cool would that be! 🤢 ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789/36 "2026-10-14T19:35:27Z")
A little history about the word: It apparently was mostly used by the Marines, supposedly having picked it up in the former US territory, until after WW2, and then started creeping into the popular lexicon. I guess former Marines might be familiar with the Parris Island area called “The Boondocks,” made infamous by the case of [Sgt. Matthew McKeon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_McKeon) in 1956. But getting back to the OP, nah, I don’t think it’s ever been used with any consistency to refer to the “poor” or “bad” side of town as the song indicates. Typically just means “way out there somewhere.” So far as “down” versus “out,” well, in the song his girlfriend and her dad, his employer, do live on a hill. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789/37 "2026-10-14T23:29:11Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > do live on a hill. Nob Hill in San Francisco. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789/38 "2026-10-14T23:38:19Z")
Joe South never lived in San Francisco. More likely, Buckhead in Atlanta or Hillwood in Nashville…or just a writer’s imagination. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789/39 "2026-10-15T05:46:24Z")
How many boondocks can one poor down-and-outer live in (or sit on) at one time? I’ve lived in (and sat on) several boondocks in my life – but only one boondock at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Stana\_Claus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stana_claus/32/13874_2.png) [@Stana\_Claus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stana_Claus)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789/40 "2026-10-15T13:29:31Z")
Ah, but boondocks are never found as a singularity. If you actually find yourself in one boondock, you are totally surrounded by more boondocks. You may have one particular spot you claim as yours out there in the boondocks, but the rest of the boondocks are still there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boondocks-out-in-or-down-in/1033789.md?page=3)