phrase
Timbuktu
A figurative 'somewhere very far away'.
Origin
A real city in present-day Mali โ once a major medieval center of Islamic scholarship, trade, and gold on the trans-Saharan caravan routes. By the 19th century, Europeans struggled to reach it; explorers who returned alive were celebrated. In English the name detached from the city and became a placeholder for 'the back of beyond'.
Modern usage
Almost always figurative. 'From here to Timbuktu' = an arbitrarily long distance. The actual city, which has a UNESCO library and remarkable history, suffers from the metaphor.
Tags
distance
exotic