Hi Richard,
no we don't use the term boondocks, we are though aquainted with it from US culture i.e films and songs especially. You mention the intermixing of languages, English itself is a mongrel language not only was it influenced by Celtic langages but by Latin, (Roman occupation and ecclesiastical use), Anglo Saxon (High German), Scandinavian (Danish, Norwegian and Swedish), Norman French and actual French (our so called imperial system of measures are actualy based of French or other European terms and only fully defined in theh middle of the 19th C.
after the establishment of the more logical Metric system) as well as through our vast Empire accross the world.
Words you mention such as LASER (acronym for Light Amplified Stimulated - something - Radiation), snafu likewise (I'm too polite to explain that acronym), hypo is a Greek word (under) borrowed by the Romans hence hypocaust (underfloor heating) and Hypochlorite (fixing photographs etc) I think because it is an anion (negatively charged oxygen atom = minus or 'below') also hence hypochondria (below par in health terms) hypothermia (below normal temperature) etc so 'hypo' still has only one meaning it is the cocatenated terms which have different meanings. Byte is of course an abbreviation of binary digit and most other terms in computing are either derivations of normal words, abbreviations or acromyms and are used for specialised discussion (aka jargon) but some spill over into popular usage but all of these have developed in response to the needs of new technology,
I would still argue that a 'novice' of the Romans is still a 'novice' today so there is no need to 'make up' a new description when there is a perfectly good, quite well known, more elegant, less ugly existing word which has stood the test of time - I find that ridiculous just as changing the name of a, say, horse (Roman - Hippo, hippopotamus = River Horse, strange imagination those Romans) to say, piglettio
just because you can.
Glad you've enjoyed the discussion I also try not to take or give acrimony or insult anyone. You have to love language, it separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom - no let's not start another discussion that's just an observation.
TerryD