Today we begin with a question: which of these words doesn't belong with the others: tuba, yo-yo, manila paper, or boondocks?
Here's a hint: there's an association between these words and the Tydings-McDuffie Act, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on this date 69 years ago. Need a bit more help? The 1934 Tydings-McDuffie Act is also known as the Philippine Commonwealth and Independence Act: it established that a ten-year period of commonwealth status for the Philippine Islands would culminate in that country's independence.

As for the four words that started us off, all those terms have an association with the languages spoken on the Philippines. The term tuba comes from a plant found on that archipelago, while yo-yo is thought to be a native name in one of the more than five dozen languages spoken there. Boondock literally means "mountain" in Tagalog, one of the most important Filipino languages, while the capital name of manila, once used as an adjective for the strong and durable buff-colored, smooth-finished paper made from Manila hemp, now refers to any similar paper regardless of its fiber content.

So which word doesn't belong? Listeners with a musical ear may have heard the false note we struck with our mention of the tuba. Although it is true the tuba plant grows in the Philippines, it is also true that the only connection between that plant and the more familiar tuba (naming the brass instrument) is their identical spelling.

http://www.m-w.com/wftw/03mar/032403.htm