different between podunk vs backwater

English

Etymology

From Podunk, a mythical small town of no importance, that from Eastern Algonquian.

Adjective

podunk (comparative more podunk, superlative most podunk)

1. (US) Small, rural, and unimportant.

Synonyms

• backwater
• boonies
• drinkwater
• jerkwater

See also

• Podunk
• Thesaurus:remote place

English

Alternative forms

• back water
• back-water

Etymology

back +? water

Pronunciation

Noun

backwater (plural backwaters)

1. The water held back by a dam or other obstruction
2. (idiomatic) A remote place; somewhere that remains unaffected by new events, progresses, ideas, etc.
   • 1978, National Opera Association – The Opera Journal page 29

     It's a volume for those who delight in exploring the backwaters of nineteenth-century opera.

   • 1979, Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

     Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.

3. A rowing stroke in which the oar is pushed forward to stop the boat; see back water

Synonyms

• (small, backwards place): jerkwater town, one-horse town, Podunk
• See Thesaurus:remote place

Translations

Verb

backwater (third-person singular simple present backwaters, present participle backwatering, simple past and past participle backwatered)

1. To row or paddle a backwater stroke.
2. (idiomatic) To vacillate on a long-held position.

Translations