Woop Woop is an Australian and
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
term meaning a place that is a far distance from anything. Equivalent terms include "
beyond the black stump
''Beyond the Black Stump'' is a novel by British author Nevil Shute. It was first published in the UK by William Heinemann Ltd, in 1956.
Plot summary
The story concerns a young American geologist, Stanton Laird, working in the Australian outba ...
" and "dingo woop woop" (also Australia), "
the boondocks" (Southern United States) and "out in the sticks" or "the back of beyond" (UK).
Etymology
The term is said to have been derived from the nickname given to men who carried fleeces in
shearing shed
Shearing sheds (or wool sheds) are large sheds located on sheep stations to accommodate large scale sheep shearing activities.
In countries where large numbers of sheep are kept for wool, sometimes many thousands in a flock, shearing sheds a ...
s, after the sound they made as they ran around. Grubba Grubba is also another version commonly found outback in the Kimberley. It was also the name of a sawmill near the town of
Wilga in South West of
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...
that was abandoned in 1984. The term was being used in the early 1900s to describe a mythical
outback
The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a ...
town.
The term was also used in a book about the Ghan train, published in 2021, titled The Train to Oodna-woop-woop
– The story of The Ghan.
See also
*
Outback
The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a ...
*
The bush
"The bush" is a term mostly used in the English vernacular of Australia and New Zealand where it is largely synonymous with ''backwoods'' or '' hinterland'', referring to a natural undeveloped area. The fauna and flora contained within this ...
* ''
Welcome to Woop Woop
''Welcome to Woop Woop'' is a 1997 Australian comedy film directed by Stephan Elliott and starring Johnathon Schaech and Rod Taylor. The film was based on the novel ''The Dead Heart'' by Douglas Kennedy. " Woop Woop" is an Australian colloqui ...
''
References
{{reflist
Australian slang
Rural culture in Oceania