back of beyond en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
First attested in the Scottish novelist Walter Scott’s The Antiquary (1816; see quotation). It is quite possible that Scott anglicised a rural expression rather than coined it himself—something he did numerous times with other phrases.
Meanings
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(Australia, Canada, Ireland, UK, informal, qualifier:sometimes at or to, usually, with in) A very remote place.
"I thought I should like to go near the sea — to some quite tiny country place at the back of beyond."
1920, Margaret Pedler, The Hermit of Far End:[Y]ou, 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—[…]
1816, [Walter Scott], chapter II, in The Antiquary. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 36: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.
1969, Patsy Adam-Smith, Folklore of the Australian Railwaymen, Melbourne: Macmillan, page 151:To the "Sou' West" we owe such jolly little back-o'-beyond stations as Whithorn and Portpatrick.
1941 January, C. Hamilton Ellis, “The Scottish Station”, in Railway Magazine, page 3: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.
1882, Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| the back of beyond | canonical | lexicographic |
Synonyms
remote place · beyond the black stump
Translations (19)
cy pen draw'r byd (A remote place) · it casa del Diavolo (A remote place) · sh bogu iza leđa (A remote place) · sh bogu iza nogu (A remote place) · it capo al mondo (A remote place) · es quinto pino (A remote place) · fi hevonkuusi (A remote place) · el στου διαβόλου τη μάνα (A remote place) · pt quinto dos infernos (A remote place) · ru у чёрта на рогах (A remote place) · ga iargúltacht (A remote place) · ga iargúil (A remote place) · sh богу иза леђа (A remote place) · kw argel (A remote place) · sh богу иза ногу (A remote place) · it casa di Dio (A remote place) · pl koniec świata (A remote place) · mi tua o Tāwauwau (A remote place) · ru у чёрта на куличках (A remote place)