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[[File:Barter-Chickens for Subscription.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|1874 cartoon of a farmer bartering chickens in exchange for a subscription to the "''Podunk Weekly Bugle''"]] | [[File:Barter-Chickens for Subscription.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|1874 cartoon of a farmer bartering chickens in exchange for a subscription to the "''Podunk Weekly Bugle''"]] | ||
The terms '''''podunk''''' and '''''Podunk Hollow''''' in [[American English]] denote or describe an insignificant, out-of-the-way, or even completely fictitious town.<ref name="Nick Bacon 2013">Nick Bacon. "Podunk After Pratt: Place and Placelessness in East Hartford, CT." In ''Confronting Urban Legacy: Rediscovering Hartford and New England’s Forgotten Cities.'' Xiangming Chen and Nick Bacon (eds). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2013.</ref> These terms are often used in the upper case as a [[placeholder name]], to indicate | The terms '''''podunk''''' and '''''Podunk Hollow''''' in [[American English]] denote or describe an insignificant, out-of-the-way, or even completely fictitious town.<ref name="Nick Bacon 2013">Nick Bacon. "Podunk After Pratt: Place and Placelessness in East Hartford, CT." In ''Confronting Urban Legacy: Rediscovering Hartford and New England’s Forgotten Cities.'' Xiangming Chen and Nick Bacon (eds). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2013.</ref> These terms are often used in the upper case as a [[placeholder name]], to indicate insignificance and lack of importance.<ref name="ReferenceA">Read, Allen 1939. "The Rationale of Podunk." ''American Speech'' 14(2): 99-108.</ref> | ||
==Etymology== | ==Etymology== | ||
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* An area of [[East Hartford, Connecticut]] in the Podunk River basin including Vinton's Pond<ref name="Courant">{{cite news|url=https://www.courant.com/2010/04/30/south-windsor-creates-25-mile-trail-system-through-wapping-park/|title=South Windsor Creates 2.5-Mile Trail System Through Wapping Park|newspaper=Hartford Courant|first=Peter|last=Marteka|date=April 30, 2010}}</ref> | * An area of [[East Hartford, Connecticut]] in the Podunk River basin including Vinton's Pond<ref name="Courant">{{cite news|url=https://www.courant.com/2010/04/30/south-windsor-creates-25-mile-trail-system-through-wapping-park/|title=South Windsor Creates 2.5-Mile Trail System Through Wapping Park|newspaper=Hartford Courant|first=Peter|last=Marteka|date=April 30, 2010}}</ref> | ||
* An area, now a [[ghost town]], {{convert|11|mi|km|spell=in}} south of [[Shattuck, Oklahoma]] in [[Ellis County, Oklahoma|Ellis County]] | * An area, now a [[ghost town]], {{convert|11|mi|km|spell=in}} south of [[Shattuck, Oklahoma]] in [[Ellis County, Oklahoma|Ellis County]] | ||
* An area in [[Dixie National Forest]] containing a guard station known as the Podunk Guard Station<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/ | * An area in [[Dixie National Forest]] containing a guard station known as the Podunk Guard Station<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/r04/dixie/recreation |title=Podunk Guard Station |publisher=Dixie National Forest}}</ref> | ||
* Within [[Worcester County, Massachusetts]] (and involving three [[New England town]]s, each adjacent to at least one of the other two): | * 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]]'' | ** 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]] | ** 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 {{convert|3|mi|km}} WNW of Pascoag | * An area of northwestern Rhode Island {{convert|3|mi|km}} WNW of Pascoag | ||
* There is a [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Potunk+Ln,+Westhampton+Beach,+NY+11978/@40.8089368,-72.6473027,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x89e8f6ec405cb8cf:0x1b774f3b9bcdfc72 | * There is a [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Potunk+Ln,+Westhampton+Beach,+NY+11978/@40.8089368,-72.6473027,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x89e8f6ec405cb8cf:0x1b774f3b9bcdfc72 Potunk Lane] in Westhampton Beach, New York, of the same Algonquin origin. | ||
* An alternative spelling; "Podonque" is found as a name on 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<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alleganycountynylocalhistory.com/CemeteryPages/Podonque%20Cem-Rushford/PodonqueCem.htm |title=Podonque Cemetery – Town of Rushford, Allegany County, NY |work=Allegany County Cemetery List |publisher=Allegany County Historical Society |accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> | * An alternative spelling; "Podonque" is found as a name on 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<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alleganycountynylocalhistory.com/CemeteryPages/Podonque%20Cem-Rushford/PodonqueCem.htm |title=Podonque Cemetery – Town of Rushford, Allegany County, NY |work=Allegany County Cemetery List |publisher=Allegany County Historical Society |accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> | ||
* An area near the [[Erie Canal]] [[lift bridge]] in [[Holley, New York]] | * An area near the [[Erie Canal]] [[lift bridge]] in [[Holley, New York]] | ||
Latest revision as of 22:12, 28 June 2025
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The terms podunk and Podunk Hollow in American English denote or describe an insignificant, out-of-the-way, or even completely fictitious town.[1] These terms are often used in the upper case as a placeholder name, to indicate insignificance and lack of importance.[2]
Etymology
The word podunk is of Algonquian origin. It denoted both the Podunk people and marshy locations, particularly the people's winter village site on the border of present-day East Hartford and South Windsor, Connecticut.[1][2][3] Podunk was first defined in an American national dictionary in 1934, as an imaginary small town considered typical of placid dullness and lack of contact with the progress of the world.[4]
The earliest citation in the Dictionary of American Regional English is from Samuel Griswold Goodrich's 1840 book The Politician of Podunk:
The book portrays Waxtend as being drawn by his interest in public affairs into becoming a representative in the General Assembly, finding himself unsuited to the role, and returning to his trade.[5] It is unclear whether the author intended to evoke more than 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. An 1875 description said:
In American discourse, the term podunk came into general colloquial use through the wide national readership of the "Letters from Podunk" of 1846, in the Daily National Pilot of Buffalo, New York. These represented "Podunk" as a real place but one insignificant and out of the way.[6] The term gained currency as standing for a fictional place. For instance, in 1869, Mark Twain wrote the article "Mr. Beecher and the Clergy," defending his friend Thomas K. Beecher, whose preaching had come under criticism. In it, he said:
At the time, he was living in Buffalo, moving to Hartford, Connecticut in 1871, in a home within Template:Convert of the Podunk River. Elmira, where Twain had lived earlier, is within Template:Convert of Podunk, New York, so it is not clear to which village Twain was referring.
Places named Podunk
The United States Board on Geographic Names lists places named "Podunk":
- Podunk, Connecticut, an area of the town of Guilford in New Haven County
- Podunk, New York, a hamlet in the town of Ulysses in Tompkins County
- Podunk, Vermont, an area of the town of Wardsboro in Windham County
- Three places, over Template:Convert apart, in Michigan:
- Podunk, Michigan, a community on Podunk Lake in Barry County
- Podunk, Michigan, a crossroads in Gladwin County
- Podunk, Michigan, an alternative name for Rogers City, MI in Presque Isle County, Michigan
- Podunk, Michigan, the south eastern portion of the Village of Manchester, Michigan centered on the current village offices, formal before consolidation with the western portion "Manchester" changed in attempts to improve community image, the concurrent USPS designation of the Village of Manchester, Michigan zip code 48158. Washtenaw County, Michigan
Other areas known as Podunk include:
- An area of East Hartford, Connecticut in the Podunk River basin including Vinton's Pond[7]
- An area, now a ghost town, Template:Convert south of Shattuck, Oklahoma in Ellis County
- An area in Dixie National Forest containing a guard station known as the Podunk Guard Station[8]
- Within Worcester County, Massachusetts (and involving three New England towns, each adjacent to at least one of the other two):
- Podunk, an unincorporated area in East Brookfield, according to The Straight Dope
- The Podunk Pike, which runs from Sturbridge, north through East Brookfield, and into Spencer
- An area of northwestern Rhode Island Template:Convert WNW of Pascoag
- There is a Potunk Lane in Westhampton Beach, New York, of the same Algonquin origin.
- An alternative spelling; "Podonque" is found as a name on 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[9]
- An area near the Erie Canal lift bridge in Holley, New York
- A lake in Franklin County, Maine.[10]
- Podunk, Wisconsin, a now defunct town containing a sizable Bradner, Charnley & Co. logging camp, in Door County, Wisconsin[11]
See also
References
Further reading
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- Template:Cite magazine
External links
- The Straight Dope: Where is Podunk? October 14, 1988
- Podunk Revisited (Reader's letter to The New York Times, August 23, 1981)
- ↑ a b Nick Bacon. "Podunk After Pratt: Place and Placelessness in East Hartford, CT." In Confronting Urban Legacy: Rediscovering Hartford and New England’s Forgotten Cities. Xiangming Chen and Nick Bacon (eds). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2013.
- ↑ a b Read, Allen 1939. "The Rationale of Podunk." American Speech 14(2): 99-108.
- ↑ Lacy, John. 1982. "If this is Podunk, it is truly nowhere", Hartford Courant, May 30, pg. E6.
- ↑ Shea, Jim. 2007. “Proud to be Podunk!” Hartford Courant, Jan 22.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Read, Allen 1939 "The Rationale of Podunk." American Speech 14(2): 99-108.
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