by Bacender October 22, 2007
a phrase for a small or rural town that was popularized by the movie "The French Connection" in 1971, starring Gene Hackman. The film was about a drug smuggling operation that had french connections in mid-state New York. This was all based on actual happenings and the small, rural town known as Poughkeepsie was the actual setting in both real life and in the movie. Countless times in the movie, they used slang phrases such as "podunk" or "pough town" to describe the area.
Today, the phrases have caught on with many individuals and spread throughout many states and towns all across America. By being spread through word of mouth, many people lost the true meaning of podunk and did not even realize it was originally used and first created for Poughkeepsie. The town of Poughkeepsie and city has now become less rural and more developed. Surrounding towns have all been overcrowded by many people coming from the suburbs of NYC due to the ripple effect. Too many people work in the city and live just outside of it, so they move a little bit farther out to escape the high density living. Even though Poughkeepsie may not even count as a podunk town anymore, it should always be credited for inspiring the popular phrase.
Today, the phrases have caught on with many individuals and spread throughout many states and towns all across America. By being spread through word of mouth, many people lost the true meaning of podunk and did not even realize it was originally used and first created for Poughkeepsie. The town of Poughkeepsie and city has now become less rural and more developed. Surrounding towns have all been overcrowded by many people coming from the suburbs of NYC due to the ripple effect. Too many people work in the city and live just outside of it, so they move a little bit farther out to escape the high density living. Even though Poughkeepsie may not even count as a podunk town anymore, it should always be credited for inspiring the popular phrase.
Guy 1: "So now that Poughkeepsie is no longer a podunk little town, what else can we call podunk?"
Guy 2: "Well Poughquag isn't that small, but it sure does have a lot of cows, so I guess we can call it podunk."
Guy 1: "Neighboring towns keep the word alive."
Guy 2: "Well Poughquag isn't that small, but it sure does have a lot of cows, so I guess we can call it podunk."
Guy 1: "Neighboring towns keep the word alive."
by true_meanings May 17, 2007
A derogatory (though usually joshing) term for a person implying that they are backwater or uneducated.
by Sleightflow October 22, 2012
The name of an Algonquin tribe that lived on the east side of the Connecticut River. Now it just means remote small town shit hole, in reference to small town shit holes in eastern Connecticut today.
by reversehandle April 20, 2016