A wasteful or pointless project or activity that consumes time and money without producing meaningful results.
Origin disputed but possibly from a Boy Scout craft project called a 'boondoggle' (a braided leather strap), metaphorically applied to government projects in the 1930s Depression era that seemed unproductive.
The term exploded in popularity during the New Deal of the 1930s when critics called Franklin D. Roosevelt's job-creation programs 'boondoggles'—it's become the perfect word for government waste across the political spectrum.
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