middle of nowhere

English

Pronunciation

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Noun

middle of nowhere (plural middles of nowhere)

1. (idiomatic) A very remote or secluded area; a nondescript place lacking population, interesting things, or defining characteristics.
   • 1889 Nov. 2, "The Proof" (editorial), The Daily Record (Kansas, USA), p. 2 (retrieved 12 April 2013):

     We set out to demonstrate to the people of the county that a corrupt ring managed the Republican party in this county. . . . We want that corrupt ring knocked into the middle of Nowhere.

   • 1920, Margaret Pedler, chapter 29, in The Hermit of Far End:

     "Only we don't happen to be in the middle of nowhere! We're just about a couple of miles from a market town where abides a nice little inn whence petrol can be obtained."

   • 1950 May, Timothy H. Cobb, “The Tanganyika Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 297:

     The train occasionally stops when it crosses a stream in the middle of nowhere to take on water.

   • 1977 October 17, “Now, the Poor Man's Jumbo Jet”, in Time:

     South Florida's Everglades Jetport is a fancy name for a concrete runway in the middle of nowhere.

   • 1997, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Tryin' to Get to Heaven”, in Time Out of Mind:

     I've been walking through the middle of nowhere / Trying to get to heaven before they close the door

   • 2012 May 9, Bettina Wassener, “A Modern Magellan Demonstrates Power of the Sun”, in New York Times, retrieved 12 April 2013:

     [A]fter weeks of journeying across the monotonous open sea. . . . “You see nothing for 30 days — you’re in the middle of nowhere, you feel like you are in outer space,” said Mr. Domjan.

   • 2021 July 23, Ryan Trahan, 0:12 from the start, in Overnight in an Abandoned Ghost Town‎^[1]:

     In the 1800s, tons of Americans migrated all over in search of one thing: money. Towns just started popping up in the middles of nowhere to mine for gold.

   • 2022 November 16, Paul Bigland, “From rural branches to high-speed arteries”, in RAIL, number 970, page 56:

     It feels strange to be crossing the site of the old Ripple Lane locomotive depot and freight yards on a new viaduct, to arrive in what used to be the middle of nowhere but which is now a growing new development.

Usage notes

• Almost always in the singular, preceded by the.

Synonyms

• See: Thesaurus:remote place
• backwater, backwoods, boondocks, the sticks, Timbuktu

Derived terms

• bumfuck middle of nowhere

Translations

remote place

• Belarusian: у чорта на рагах, у віру на калу (u čórta na rahax, u viru na kalu)
• Bulgarian: в средата на нищото (v sredata na ništoto)
• Catalan: quinta forca f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 山旮旯 (saan¹ kaa¹ laa¹)

  Mandarin: 偏僻的地方 (piānpì de dìfang), 荒郊野外 (zh) (huāngjiāoyěwài), 前不著村後不著店 / 前不着村后不着店 (qián bù zháo cūn, hòu bù zháo diàn), 前不着村后不着店 (qián bù zháo cūn hòu bù zháo diàn)

• Czech: prdel světa f (vulgar), kde lišky dávají dobrou noc
• Dutch: niemandsland (nl) n, rimboe (nl) m, Verweggistan (nl) n
• Estonian: Kapa-Kohila, karuperse, pärapõrgu
• Finnish: Perähikiä, keskellä ei-mitään, hornantuutti, Huitsin Nevada
• French: au milieu de nulle part (fr), trou du cul du monde (fr) m (vulgar), Trifouilly-les-Oies (fr), Pétaouchnok (fr), trou perdu (fr) m, Perpète-lès-Oies (fr)
• German: Arsch der Welt (de), wo sich Fuchs und Hase gute Nacht sagen
• Greek: στη μέση του πουθενά (sti mési tou pouthená), στου διαβόλου τη μάνα (stou diavólou ti mána)
• Hungarian: a semmi közepe, az isten háta mögött (hu), ahol a madár se jár
• Icelandic: lengst úti í rassgati
• Irish: ar an iargúil
• Italian: mezzo al niente m, in culo ai lupi (vulgar), in culo al nulla (vulgar), in Culonia f (vulgar), in culo al mondo (vulgar)
• Maltese: sorm id-dinja
• Maori: tua o Tāwauwau
• Navajo: tʼáá dzígaidi
• Persian: هیچ‌جا (fa) (hič-jâ), هیچ‌کجا (hič-kojâ), تورقوزآباد (turquz-âbâd) (colloquial)
• Polish: zadupie (pl) n, wygwizdów m, dziura (pl) f; tam, gdzie diabeł mówi dobranoc (pl)
• Portuguese: Lugar Nenhum; meio do nada; onde Judas perdeu as botas (pt); cu do mundo (pt) (vulgar); cu de Judas (vulgar), puta que pariu (pt) (vulgar)
• Romanian: în mijlocul pustietății, în pulă cu satelitul (vulgar)
• Russian: у чёрта на рога́х (u čórta na rogáx), у чёрта на кули́чках (u čórta na kulíčkax), медве́жий у́гол (ru) m (medvéžij úgol), глушь (ru) (glušʹ); в захолу́стье (ru) (v zaxolústʹje), за три́девять земе́ль (ru) (za trídevjatʹ zemélʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: ann an cùl nan cnoc, am meadhan na mòintich
• Serbo-Croatian: усред ничега (usred ničega), usred ničega (ničega = genitive of ništa (sh))
• Sicilian: a casa di Cristu, unni persi i scarpi u Signuri, a Carrapipi, a Munciuffi, a fari 'n culu, a pirdìrisi u pilu
• Slovene: kraj, kjer ti lisica lahko noč vošči
• Spanish: en el culo del mundo m, andurrial m, quilombo (es) m (Venezuela)
• Sranan Tongo: psa Gado ai
• Swedish: mitt i ingenstans, världens ände
• Vietnamese: khỉ ho cò gáy (vi)
• Welsh: ym mhen draw’r byd
• Yiddish: העק m or f (hek)