r/geography • u/True_Antelope8860 • 1d ago
Whats the place you refer to when something is very very far Discussion
1.1k
u/Impossible_Newt3398 1d ago
In Brazil we say "Cochinchina" (Vietnam)
257
u/MiguelAGF 1d ago
Same in Spain!
→ More replies61
84
77
69
26
u/Obscure_Hat 1d ago
We also say "Pra lá de Bagdá" in Brazil, that means something like "Beyond Bagda" (Iraq)
→ More replies16
u/125monty 1d ago
Cochin was actually (still is) a vibrant trading city in South India when the Portuguese arrived in India.. don't know if that has any bearing in that reference!
→ More replies→ More replies17
u/FoolsGoldMouthpiece 1d ago
The portugese word for Vietnam is Pig-china?
→ More replies51
u/Wooper736 1d ago
Cochinchina is an old colonial name for the southern part of Vietnam
9
u/FoolsGoldMouthpiece 1d ago
In Spanish, cochina means pig, but is usually used in a figurative sense for someone acting crudely.
→ More replies
887
u/30hertz 1d ago
very common in germany haha „Geh doch nach Timbuktu“
295
u/Ill-Cheesecake-9376 1d ago
Or you say: "something is completely in Pampa" (Argentina)
166
u/myusernameis2lon 1d ago edited 1d ago
TIL that Pampa is an actual place and not just a figure of speech.
→ More replies49
9
24
u/OneRegular378 1d ago
Often used is also "Arsch der Welt", but I don't think it is a real place
→ More replies36
→ More replies17
21
→ More replies42
673
u/Powerpop5 1d ago edited 21h ago
In the Netherlands we say "verwegistan" which roughly translates to "Far away-istan". So it's not necessarily a country, but you can say its roughly in the -stan countries, like Pakistan, Afghanistan etc.
Edit: -stan, not -istan. Kazachstan exists after all.
70
127
u/Bubbly-Astronomer930 1d ago
Same in here in Norway langt vekk-istan means far away istan
→ More replies66
u/Gurra09 1d ago
In Sweden we have the same, "Långtbortistan". If I'm not mistaken this originally came from one of the Donald Duck comics and then spread into general use
→ More replies28
u/7chalices 1d ago
We also have ”Tjotahejti”, which apparently derives from an older name for Tahiti.
→ More replies7
u/Gwindor1 1d ago
Now that you mention it, excluding "Tjo", it sounds like how anyone from Småland would pronounce Tahiti...
→ More replies17
29
→ More replies10
215
u/morbidnihilism 1d ago
Not a geographic location but "no cu de Judas" (In Judas' ass), here in Portugal
34
→ More replies23
u/lou_reed_ketamine 1d ago
In Quebec we will say "dans le trou-de-cul du monde", or in the ass of the world.
→ More replies
1.4k
u/AndreHan 1d ago
In Italy we often refer to Honolulu!
307
u/Ashamed-Bus-5727 1d ago
Jordan too! Also Bora Bora sometimes
56
1d ago
[deleted]
46
u/hooligan99 1d ago
Honolulu to Bora Bora can be 16 hrs, and 9 of that is a layover in a different part of Tahiti. Flight time is under 7 hrs.
→ More replies→ More replies6
54
u/Every_Addition8638 1d ago
Mai sentito, io uso timboktu
→ More replies17
40
u/zaxonortesus 1d ago
Wow… I live in Honolulu so it’s wild to think that I’m that ‘far away place’ to someone!
69
15
→ More replies7
32
8
6
→ More replies5
u/chemistry_teacher 1d ago
Hey, I’m in Honolulu right now! I use Botswana because it’s literally on the opposite side of the world (the antipode) from us!
But Italy works! You’re twelve time zones away from us!! 🤙🏽🏝️
168
u/Kappa555555555 1d ago
In Rome it is "in culo al mondo", on the ass of the world; often shortened as "culonia" (ass-land)
22
u/flavious_x 1d ago
I don't know if it is specific of veneto region, but i say "in culo ai lupi", meaning "up the wolves' asses". I know in Sicily they say "where our lord lost his shoes".. unni o signoruzzo pesse e scarpe
→ More replies→ More replies5
445
u/Lax_Ligaments 1d ago
BFE
18
u/StandardIssueWhore 1d ago
I've been saying Bufu, Egypt for a while. People often try to look it up
→ More replies229
u/DETRITUS_TROLL 1d ago
This stands for "Butt f@#% Egypt" for anyone who doesn't know.
It is also where I had to park in high school.
219
u/TrenchDildo 1d ago
Or “Bum Fuck Egypt” if you’re brave enough to curse on the internet.
22
u/Cubie_McGee 1d ago
I say Bum Fuck. Like in the following context: " Goddamn, that greasy motherfucker led us out to plum Bum Fucking Egypt and then had the audacity to bail on gas money."
→ More replies39
u/puresemantics 1d ago
“Butt fuck nowhere” is also common
→ More replies13
16
u/BumBumBumBumBahDum 1d ago
Either we went to the same high school, or this phrase is more common than I thought.
"Why are you late to 1st period?"
"I had to park out in BFE"
→ More replies→ More replies7
29
7
15
6
→ More replies11
75
371
u/Old_Barnacle7777 1d ago
Going with Bugs Bunny, I choose Albuquerque. You make a left turn there.
16
u/Ok-Push9899 1d ago edited 19h ago
I remember reading that there is in fact a physical reason for Bugs getting lost due to missing a turn in Albuquerque. Apparently the old Route 66 went straight into the city and turned 90⁰. It went from north/south to being east/west, and this confused a lot of interstate travellers heading coast to coast. You could stand on the corner of Route 66 and Route 66.
Later roadworks changed the highway alignment to be more east/west.
→ More replies54
u/Evening_Speech8167 1d ago
Ha! I grew up in Philadelphia and remember my grandmother using that fictional location to refer to any place that was too far (think more than 50 miles) and not worthy of her time. I think Philadelphians are far too classy to insult people from any real places. Now that I live outside of Philadelphia and have lost my fine Philly etiquette, I refer to far away (and generally rural) places as “Bumfuck, Egypt” (apologies to fellow geography buffs from that wonderful country). Go Birds.
(Edit - the post referring to “East Jepip” seems to have gone missing)
82
u/Old_Barnacle7777 1d ago
Just to be clear, you do know that Timbuktu and Albuquerque are real places.
30
u/kalechipsaregood 1d ago edited 1d ago
Philadelphia is also classically used around the Northeastern US to describe a city that is NOT classy. Someone from Philly not knowing that Albuquerque is real and thinking of their family as classy fits right in with the Philly steriotype.
Philadelphians have a high opinion of themselves because they use Pittsburgh as a comparison instead of NY or DC.
→ More replies9
u/Old_Barnacle7777 1d ago
I’ve lived in Maryland for most of my life and have no wish to jump into a Philadelphia vs. Pittsburgh fight. I have visited both cities and have found them to be equally inviting. I do wonder if Breezewood could be considered the opposite to somewhere like Timbuktu. No matter where you live in the Continental US, you or something you purchase will like spend a brief amount of time in Breezewood. Also, is Centralia a gateway to hell?
→ More replies→ More replies11
u/hogtiedcantalope 1d ago
Sure, and Heisenberg was really a scientist, not just some fictional meth cook :(
31
u/CactusHibs_7475 1d ago
As a longtime resident of Albuquerque, this is really funny.
→ More replies30
u/PoorSeraphimK 1d ago
I thought this was real until he said Philadelphians are classy
→ More replies11
→ More replies12
→ More replies6
u/SinewaveZB 1d ago
I always say Tuscaloosa, for some reason it seemed like it would be another funny name like Albuquerque
59
112
u/TillPsychological351 1d ago edited 1d ago
I remember using "Jabip", or even "East Jabip" growing up in the Philadelphia area. I'm not sure if it is a real place.
22
18
u/Fonzee327 1d ago
What about bumblefuck? Philly resident here and although I’ve heard of east japip I’ve never said it
→ More replies12
u/Death_Potato576 1d ago
Same area, me too!!!
7
u/SafetyNoodle 1d ago
I (grew up on the Main Line) never used this but my mom who grew up in Delco definitely does.
8
u/aceouses 1d ago
montco raised here, i say this too! 😂😂
or east bumble fuck lol
9
u/MattyHealysFauxHawk 1d ago
I have found the weirdest microcosm in this Reddit thread lol
6
u/aceouses 1d ago
it’s philly lmao
9
u/MattyHealysFauxHawk 1d ago
I just never knew “Jabip” was a tristate thing lol. It’s so funny.
→ More replies→ More replies6
187
u/Ordovick 1d ago
Timbuktu and Egypt are the two most common ones here in Texas. The latter being more common "He went all the way to Bumfuck (not a typo) Egypt."
60
21
u/OneRegular378 1d ago
In German, we also have "Arsch der Welt" ("a*ss of the world") for a place that is very remote
→ More replies17
u/ThatNiceLifeguard 1d ago
I grew up in small town Southern Ontario and my family always said “Bumfuck Idaho” which is far away but really not that far.
→ More replies→ More replies20
u/Wranglin_Pangolin 1d ago
I’ve heard a number of people say Timbuktu Egypt as if it’s in the same country. I don’t think they ever looked at a map.
18
u/CantHostCantTravel 1d ago
Timbuktu is about as far away from Egypt as Las Vegas is to New York. A lot of people have zero perception of how unfathomably immense the Sahara Desert is.
→ More replies13
u/Ordovick 1d ago
Believe it or not, the average joe sucks at geography. I think it's because school makes it so boring.
→ More replies
109
u/True_Antelope8860 1d ago
We use this region of Siberia, some 20k souls live in a region bigger then Texas
58
u/PremiumUsername69420 1d ago
Do you just hold up that map in conversation like Nickelback showing you his photograph and say, “here”?
Or does that area have a name you use instead?
20
u/heyhey44o 1d ago
I think they must keep a world map in their pocket at all times like Captain Holt.
→ More replies14
u/pnkxz 1d ago
According to the wiki, it's called Evenkiysky District (Russian: Эвенки́йский райо́н, Evenki: Эведы район, romanized: Evedy rayon) or Evenkia (Russian: Эвенкия).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evenkiysky_District
You probably saw it on Reddit in 2019, when there was a meteor strike 420 km from the site of the Tunguska event.
12
u/ArkadyShevchenko 1d ago
I’ve heard Russian speakers say Karaganda, which is an actual not particularly small city in Kazakhstan.
11
u/StManTiS 1d ago
That gets used because it rhymes with the question of where?
Где?
В Караганде!
There’s a whole series of these answers to simple questions. My favorite is probably the answer to “what do I do?” which in the obscene is attach a penis to an ant. (Муравью хуй приделать).
→ More replies8
70
90
u/VukyTzar 1d ago
In Croatia we say “U pički materinoj” and I think it’s beautiful
15
u/Non-Professional22 1d ago
Brate kažemo u Tunguziji? Ako se već odnosi na daleku lokaciju 😅
→ More replies14
→ More replies8
u/seretidediskus 1d ago
In Czechia we don't specify, who's piča its suppose to be, everyone just imagine the furthest one. Also Tramtárie is valid place, but it's not that nasty.
29
u/mahoerma 1d ago
In Germany we have Timbuktu (Mali), Pampa (Las Pampas, Argentina), Walachei (Walalachia, Romania) and “wo der Pfeffer wächst” (where the pepper is growing)
→ More replies
28
27
43
u/xjfree8 1d ago
In the Garfield cat comics, after they introduced Nermal, new kitten, to the house, Garfield would regularly ship Nermal to Abu Dhabi.
→ More replies
22
24
u/SantiRedditor07 1d ago
El 5to pino : "The 5th pine"
6
→ More replies5
u/Jdkrv 1d ago
Which was a real pine, in Madrid. Also we say "donde Cristo perdió la zapatilla", literal transcription "where Christ lost his sandal". So if Christ really lost a sandal, this happened in Judea (?)
→ More replies
19
18
u/mon10egro 1d ago
In Montenegro we refer to Tungusia. It's a former Russian oblast in Siberia known for Tunguska event. Located somewhere here:
→ More replies
14
41
u/__Quercus__ 1d ago edited 1d ago
As OP noted, Timbuktu is the most common placeholder name that is also a real place. However, when trying to describe my lousy parking spot years ago, I was a fan BFE, which I won't spell out so this post isn't deleted, but the E stands for Egypt.
Edit: apparently Bumfuck Egypt is SFGS. Safe for Geography Subreddit. Good to know, bwa ha ha ha!
→ More replies12
u/diqholebrownsimpson 1d ago
Boobies lol
5
u/__Quercus__ 1d ago
Whoa there, buddy. Nobody said anything about mentioning blue-footed shorebirds on this sub.
12
14
12
12
27
11
u/No_usernames_availab 1d ago
Here’s a few Finnish ones:
- Timbuktu
- Hevonkuusi, ”horse’s spruce/forest”
- Hevonvittu, ”horse’s vagina”
- Taka-Intia, ”back-India, the place behind India”. This used to be a valid term for Southeast Asia.
- Vinku-Intia, ”squeak-India”?? Vinkuintiaani, ”squeak-Indian” (as in native American, not the country of India) is a slur for indigenous people
- Missä pippuri kasvaa, ”where pepper grows” so India again I guess
- Huitsin Nevada, ”Nevada of the mountain peak” although most people don’t know what huitsi means
- Korpi, ”the backwoods”. Ihan vitun korvessa=in the backwoods af
Honorary mention for the idiom hävitä kuin pieru Saharaan, ”to disappear like a fart to Sahara”. Used when something vanishes without a trace.
→ More replies
10
7
39
u/lavatonic 1d ago
In American Midwest we say
BFE
Butt Fucking Egypt
26
u/gutclutterminor 1d ago
For the past 50 plus years, I have heard it called BumFuck Egypt. Never heard it as Butt Fucking.
→ More replies8
29
u/5alarm_vulcan Geography Enthusiast 1d ago
I’ve heard of butt fuck nowhere. But never Egypt.
→ More replies7
→ More replies6
9
8
u/sp0sterig 1d ago
In Russian language people sometimes (rather rarely) say 'Тьмутаракань' as a 'remote unknown place'.
Interestingly, it is a name of a medieval town in Crimea in 10th-11th centuries, but modern people don't know and don't mean that, the real origin of the phrase is forgotten.
6
u/No_Wolf8098 1d ago edited 1d ago
I've heard a few in my language.
For example there's an idiom "Uciekać gdzie pieprz rośnie" which literally translates to "run away to the place where pepper grows" and means "run away to the furthest place you can"
"Tam gdzie diabeł mówi dobranoc" which literally translates to "the place where the devil says goodnight" which is used to talk about any remote place.
Another one would be "Odejść/uciec w siną dal" which would translates to something like "go/run away into the blue farness"
There was also something referring to Honolulu but can't really remember it.
→ More replies
7
6
u/RavenSorkvild 1d ago
Poland:
-In Guadeloupe, in black ass.
-Beyond the seventh mountain and beyond the seventh river.
→ More replies
7
u/gregorydgraham 1d ago
Waikikamukau, pronounced why-kick-a-moo-cow, though it’s actually saying something is very rural. A very New Zealand thing.
→ More replies
11
u/markedasred 1d ago
I was in Dakar and asked in the railway station if i could get a train to Timbuktu (assuming i was fairly close, thinking I might do it in a day). I was told it would be easier to get there from somewhere else. You can theoretically drive between the two places in 37 hours, but you may come up against beaurocracy preventing that.
6
6
7
u/hotpotatocakes 1d ago
In ireland some say the "back o' beyond", although that's really the middle of fucking nowhere rather than far far away. Nothings that far in ireland but lots of things are in the middle of nowhere.
→ More replies
7
5
u/Sarcastic_Backpack 1d ago
Midwestern American here. You should also show where these similarly referenced places are:
"Bumfuck, Egypt"
"East Bumfuck"
"Out in the Boonies"
"East Jesus"
"Way back yonder"
→ More replies
5
6
5
u/LordLobsterI 1d ago
In Croatia, at least my parents, in similar context we use Tunguzija or Zanzibar.
Idk why
5
u/g3ntil_lapin 1d ago
In Québec we often refer to Chibougamau, a small town in northern Québec, in the middle of nowhere
→ More replies
4
4
u/OletheNorse 1d ago
In Norwegian the faraway place is most commonly Huttaheiti, which is an old and twisted form of «Haut-Tahiti». Locally, in Bergen, «go to somewherefaraway» is «Dra te’ Salhus». Salhus is a community about 20km north of Bergen centre…
→ More replies
4
1.5k
u/charlatancollective 1d ago
In Australia people say Woop Woop, which isn't a real place but sounds like hundreds of other Australian towns so I thought it was real for years.