back of beyond

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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.

18 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Cornish: argel — A remote place
• Greek: στου διαβόλου τη μάνα (stou diavólou ti mána) — A remote place
• Irish: iargúil — A remote place
• Irish: iargúltacht — A remote place
• Italian: capo al mondo — A remote place
• Italian: casa del Diavolo — A remote place
• Italian: casa di Dio — A remote place
• Māori: tua o Tāwauwau — A remote place
• Polish: koniec świata — A remote place
• Portuguese: quinto dos infernos — A remote place
• Russian: у чёрта на рогах (u čórta na rogax) — A remote place
• Russian: у чёрта на куличках (u čórta na kuličkax) — A remote place
• Serbo-Croatian: богу иза леђа — A remote place
• Serbo-Croatian: богу иза ногу — A remote place
• Serbo-Croatian: bogu iza leđa — A remote place
• Serbo-Croatian: bogu iza nogu — A remote place
• Spanish: quinto pino — A remote place
• Welsh: pen draw'r byd — A remote place