Re: Wopwops

Paul J Kriha wrote:

Brian M. Scott <b.scott@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1xpglcgi6l7ln.1bro9im1dqhu4$.dlg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Anyone know the origin of <the wopwops> (also, I believe,
simply <the wops>) as an Oz and NZ term for the boondocks,
the back of beyond, out in the tules, etc.?
Brian

It's quite a common expression here in NZ.
My CED says: the N.Z. informal, the backblocks, the back
of beyond. But on the subject of the word's origin it's totally
silent.

Some people I asked suggested relationships with insulting
slangy "wop" or with "whop" or "whopping" (large) but these
were no more than unsupported guesses.

pjk

P.S. "in the tules"? I frequently hear "in the sticks",
but what's a "tule"?

California word for a bulrush, or corresponding type of country. From
Nahuatl via Spanish.

Ross Clark
.

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