boondoggle (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict[boondoggle 词源字典]
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.[boondoggle etymology, boondoggle origin, 英语词源]