Waikikamukau
Encyclopedia
Waikikamukau, Why-key-car-moo-koh, , is any small rural town or locality in New Zealand
. New Zealanders use the name as a placeholder name
for "any town" or to denote a particularly remote rural town. It has a similar connotation as the term wop-wops, or for other English speakers Timbuktu
, or BFE (vulgar). The name is a joking reference to the frequency of New Zealand place names starting with "Wai" (Māori
for water, and used in the names of many rivers and nearby towns).
Waikikamukau is reputed to specifically refer to the town of Waipukurau
in the North Island. The origins are hazy but one account is that the American servicemen stationed in NZ during the Second World War found it difficult to pronounce the place name and thus jokingly called it Waikikamukau.
It was used as the name of a successful racehorse in the 1990s; Brighton
(Sussex, England
) has the Wai Kika Moo Kau cafe which serves vegan and vegetarian food.
Waikikamukau was also used as the setting for a Nickelodeon
telemovie, Rocket Power: Race Across New Zealand
.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. New Zealanders use the name as a placeholder name
Placeholder name
Placeholder names are words that can refer to objects or people whose names are either temporarily forgotten, irrelevant, or unknown in the context in which they are being discussed...
for "any town" or to denote a particularly remote rural town. It has a similar connotation as the term wop-wops, or for other English speakers Timbuktu
Timbuktu
Timbuktu , formerly also spelled Timbuctoo, is a town in the West African nation of Mali situated north of the River Niger on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. The town is the capital of the Timbuktu Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali...
, or BFE (vulgar). The name is a joking reference to the frequency of New Zealand place names starting with "Wai" (Māori
Maori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
for water, and used in the names of many rivers and nearby towns).
Waikikamukau is reputed to specifically refer to the town of Waipukurau
Waipukurau
Waipukurau , also known as Ypuk, is the largest town in the Central Hawke's Bay District on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 50 kilometres southwest of Hastings on the banks of the Tukituki River....
in the North Island. The origins are hazy but one account is that the American servicemen stationed in NZ during the Second World War found it difficult to pronounce the place name and thus jokingly called it Waikikamukau.
It was used as the name of a successful racehorse in the 1990s; Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
(Sussex, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) has the Wai Kika Moo Kau cafe which serves vegan and vegetarian food.
Waikikamukau was also used as the setting for a Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon is a US cable TV channel.Nickelodeon may also refer to:-In television:*Spinoffs of the Nickelodeon channel:** Nickelodeon Magazine, a children's magazine.** Nickelodeon Universe, an amusement park....
telemovie, Rocket Power: Race Across New Zealand
Rocket Power: Race Across New Zealand
Rocket Power: Race Across New Zealand was the first of three telefilms made for the Rocket Power cartoon series, first airing on Nickelodeon in the US on February 16, 2002, during the 2002 Winter Olympics...
.