r/geography • u/True_Antelope8860 • 2d ago

Whats the place you refer to when something is very very far Discussion

5.3k Upvotes

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u/Impossible_Newt3398 2d ago

In Brazil we say "Cochinchina" (Vietnam)

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u/MiguelAGF 2d ago

Same in Spain!

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u/gothminister 1d ago

In Spain we actually say Conchinchina for some reason

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u/Vevangui 1d ago

That’s just mispronunciation that’s been popularized.

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u/Visual-Emergency-210 1d ago

In Portugal Cochinchina is used too

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u/Mountain-Web42 1d ago

Or "The Fifth Pine" (el quinto pino)

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u/gothminister 1d ago

O el quinto coño

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u/AVD06 1d ago

Or “a tomar por culo” (vulgar)

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u/voli12 1d ago

In Catalonia we say "Cuenca" lmao

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u/jpopimpin777 1d ago

What's that?

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u/latviank1ng 1d ago

It’s a city in rural Spain. My guess is that it’s a joking way of saying that although they’re both in Spain, Cuenca is so remote that it feels so far away

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u/voli12 1d ago

Correct

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u/estarararax 1d ago

This expression probably emerged before the construction of the Suez Canal, right? Otherwise, Filipinas would be farther than Cochinchina if sailing through the Suez Canal.

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u/MiguelAGF 1d ago

Probably but not necessarily. Keep in mind that beyond the distance, the expression needs to sound exotic as well, to convey the feeling of distance. Conchinchina would sound exotic, but the Filipinas not necessarily.

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u/Finnlander9666 2d ago

My grandma from Nicaragua says the same thing

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u/JonathanJumper 2d ago

Same in Colombia
And I believe people would think that is located in China

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u/trrrg 2d ago

"Where Judas lost his boots" or "In the house of caralho"

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u/nnnnnnnnnnuria 2d ago

"where jesus lost his contacts"

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u/cambiro 1d ago

"In the whore that gave birth to you"

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u/okanjas 1d ago

Santa cona de assobio

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u/rickpot21 1d ago

It reminded me of a saying here in Venezuela "Where the devil left his panties" to describe a place far away

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u/gugusf02 1d ago

Kkkkkkkkkkk in the house of caralho é muito bom

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u/ovid2664 1d ago

Tens o House of Dragons no estrangeiro, aqui é HOC House of Caralho

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u/ElRaymundo 1d ago

Portugal? Brazil?

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u/Obscure_Hat 1d ago

We also say "Pra lá de Bagdá" in Brazil, that means something like "Beyond Bagda" (Iraq)

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u/zehcoutinho 1d ago

At least in my part of Brazil that means being really drunk/high.

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u/Obscure_Hat 1d ago

I think it just means a long distance, it could be from a fisical place, or from consciousness

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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!

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u/liltingly 1d ago

Turns out the "china" part of "Cochinchina" was to disambiguate it from Kochi (fka Cochin), and this Cochi comes from an anglicization of a Malay word that's unrelated. This was my first thought as well..

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u/FoolsGoldMouthpiece 2d ago

The portugese word for Vietnam is Pig-china?

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u/Wooper736 2d ago

Cochinchina is an old colonial name for the southern part of Vietnam

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u/FoolsGoldMouthpiece 1d ago

In Spanish, cochina means pig, but is usually used in a figurative sense for someone acting crudely.

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u/nomadcrows 1d ago

I would be interested in the origin of it has been tracked down. The first thing I thought about was actual pigs, because they originated in SE Asia and maybe the Spanish associate the place with pigs. Idk kinda idle speculation

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u/justArash 1d ago

https://www.etymonline.com/word/Cochin-china

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u/nomadcrows 1d ago

Interesting! It makes sense my random speculation was wrong

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u/Background-Jaguar-29 1d ago

I'm brazilian and have never heard that expression in my whole life

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u/Impossible_Newt3398 1d ago

Lá na Cochinchina? É antiga, mas bastante conhecida

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u/L8nitecall 1d ago

I was today's year old when I learned that that place was a real place.. I just thought it was because of the way it sounded

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u/Middle_Ingenuity1290 1d ago

Mano eu sou de australia mas sou asiatico. Quando me perguntam de onde sou digo australia, nao acreditam entao preguntam mais uma vez “nao mintas diz ai de onde es de verdade” , digo cochinchina pq meus pais sao de saigao…. E pensam que tou brincando… nao sabem que e um lugar de verdade

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u/Impossible_Newt3398 1d ago

Acho que pouca gente sabe que é um lugar de verdade porque é um nome muito antigo. Nem Indochina a maioria saberia dizer onde é, hoje em dia. E seu português é ótimo!

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u/castlebanks 2d ago

Yeah this is an old saying in Argentina too

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u/ThadElon 1d ago

I Left My Heart in San Francisco... famous Tony Bennett song.

I Left My Cochinchina... less famous Tony Bennett song.

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u/korkkis 1d ago

In Finland we used to say ”indochina” (intokiina)

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u/Dangerous-Tone-1177 1d ago

We also say the same in Portugal and I had no idea it was a real place until now 😂

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u/thatqueenofwands 17h ago

But if someone is drunk enough, they are “beyond Baghdad”.

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u/Visual_Bicycle_3399 1d ago

In Poland we say „where pepper grow” so basically also Vietnam

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u/Rex_Omnia 1d ago

coochiechiena

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u/Klip-Dagga 1d ago

Same in Colombia,

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u/KratosMessi27 1d ago

As a Cochinchinese i can confirm we are in Cochinchina

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u/lukezicaro_spy 1d ago

Brazil = sua casa

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u/Impossible_Newt3398 1d ago

Isso, e todos os upvotes foram da minha família