Idiom: In the boonies
Meaning: very rural area; far away from large populations or urban areas
Context #1 – New Job, New Location
Kevin: I heard you got a new job and you have to move away. Where are you going to live now Vee?
Vee: I got a great job as a Geologist in a university. But it’s way out in the boonies.
Kevin: What do you mean? How far in the boonies is it?
Sal: Let me put it to you this way, it takes about three hours to drive to a supermarket.
Context #2 – Survival trip
Bear: How was your trip?
Les: It was great. It got a little scary because we were far in the boonies and we were afraid that if someone got hurt, there would be no help.
Bear: Wow! How far away in the boonies were you?
Les: Let’s just say the boonies are a couple of hours away, and we were in the boonies of the boonies. So about a two day walk to the nearest road.
Meaning: The idiom “in the boonies” means a very rural location. Usually, it means it’s difficult to reach, even by vehicles; it’s not necessarily a negative point, but it’s typically thought of as a negative thing. In context #1, Vee got a new job he really likes, but the downside is that it’s very rural. In context #2, Les was in one of the most remote locations possible. When he says, “the boonies of the boonies” he’s trying to say they were in an extremely remote area.
