Boondoggle

What does Boondoggle mean in American Law?

The definition of Boondoggle in the law of the United States, as defined by the lexicographer Arthur Leff in his legal dictionary is:

Any job or grant more pleasurable to the holder than useful to the donor, or to anyone else. It originally covered waste of government funds on no-work or make-work projects doled out to party supporters or needy voters. It has come to encompass things like foundation-sponsored travel by well-connected professors to places like Switzerland, to discuss there the problems of Newark, N.J.