back of beyond

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

the back of beyond

1. (chiefly British, Ireland and Australia, informal, with "the"; usually with "in", sometimes "at" or "to") A very remote place.
   • 1816, Sir Walter Scott, The Antiquary:

     "and you, wi’ some o’ your auld-warld stories, that the mind o’ man canna resist, whirl’d them to the back o’ beyont to look at the auld Roman camp"

   • 1882, Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms:

     It was a regular outside bush township, and though the distance oughtn't to have much to say to people's honesty, you'll mostly find that these far-out back-of-beyond places have got men and women to match 'em.

   • 1920, Margaret Pedler, The Hermit of Far End:

     "I thought I should like to go near the sea — to some quite tiny country place at the back of beyond."

   • 1941 January, C. Hamilton Ellis, “The Scottish Station”, in Railway Magazine, page 3:

     To the "Sou' West" we owe such jolly little back-o'-beyond stations as Whithorn and Portpatrick.

   • 1969, Patsy Adam-Smith, Folklore of the Australian Railwaymen, Melbourne: Macmillan, page 151:

     We began to take Santa Claus to the kids at the isolated sidings for the same reason men all over Australia on the lines back o' beyond did [...] we didn't want them to miss that magic.

Synonyms

• beyond the black stump
• See Thesaurus:remote place

Translations

A remote place

• Cornish: argel f
• Greek: στου διαβόλου τη μάνα (stou diavólou ti mána) (lit. "at the devil's mother")
• Irish: iargúil f, iargúltacht f
• Italian: capo al mondo m, casa del Diavolo f, casa di Dio f
• Maori: tua o Tāwauwau
• Portuguese: quinto dos infernos m
• Russian: у чёрта на рогах (u čórta na rogax) (lit. "on the devil's horns"), у чёрта на куличках (u čórta na kuličkax)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: богу иза леђа, богу иза ногу

  Roman: bogu iza leđa, bogu iza nogu

• Spanish: quinto pino m
• Welsh: pen draw'r byd m