Timbuctoo

Remote African city

Timbuctoo is an older spelling of Timbuktu, the city in Mali.

The phrase from here to Timbuctoo means an impossibly remote distance—the city became proverbial in English for extreme remoteness before most speakers knew where it actually was.

The spelling Timbuctoo appears in older texts and on some U.S. place names.

place

Mali

West African country

Sahel · desert · dunes · oasis · sub-Saharan · arid · scorching · sandstorm · sirocco · erg

historic

manuscripts

Handwritten or typed originals

scholars · medieval · caravan · ancient · learning · heritage · archaeology · monuments · civilization · French colonialism

remote

faraway

At great distance

unreachable · outpost · secluded · godforsaken · ends of the earth · middle of nowhere · uncharted · frontier · desolate · hidden

mythic

legendary

Famous beyond ordinary measure

Shangri-La · ends of the earth · uncharted · mysterious · unknown · beyond the horizon · fantastical · apocryphal · rumored · dreamland

Opposites
remoteness/accessibility

Timbuctoohere

In this location

home · next door · nearby · close by · around the corner

exoticism/familiarity

TimbuctooMain Street

Town's central thoroughfare

hometown · home · backyard · suburbia · Anytown

figurative use as extreme distance

Timbuctooright here

At this location

just around the corner · under one's nose · in the vicinity

Family

Timbuktu

Familiarity
Top 1,000,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated G