1935, American English, of uncertain origin, popularized during the New Deal as a contemptuous word for make-work projects for the unemployed. Said to have been a pioneer word for "gadget;" it also was by 1932 a Boy Scout term for a kind of woven braid.
实用例句
1. The new runway is a billion-dollar boondoggle.
新的机场跑道耗资10亿美元，却没什么大用处。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Our investment in water softeners was a boondoggle.
