Podunk
The terms podunk and Podunk Hollow in American English denote or describe an insignificant, out-of-the-way, or even completely fictitious town. These terms are often used in the upper case as a placeholder name, to indicate "insignificance" and "lack of importance". 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. "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. 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. 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. 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 of the Podunk River. Elmira, where Twain had lived earlier, is within 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": Other areas known as Podunk include: