From here to Timbuktu 
[Dutch phrase of the week]
I have heard people say "from here to Timbuktu" but I am not sure whether it is used in exactly the same way… In any case: you can use the informal expression "van hier tot Tokio" ("from here
to Tokyo") when you want to say that something is very long, or covers
a long distance. Sometimes you might hear it used to refer to large
quantities.
Examples:
– "Wat ben je laat!"- "Ja, er stond een rij bij de Albert Heijn van hier tot Tokio!"
("You are late!"- "Yeah, there was a really long queue/line at Albert Heijn!")
– "Het is bizar hoeveel fietsen er staan bij Amsterdam Centraal; rij aan rij van hier tot Tokio!"
("It is bizar how many bicycles are stalled at Amsterdam Central; row after row from here to Timbuktu!")
– "Als ik jou was zou ik nog even wachten, er staat een file op de A13 van hier tot Tokio."
("I would wait a bit if I were you, there is a huge traffic jam on the A13.")
Related words:
–
"Verweggistan": an unknown country very far away. Composed of "ver weg"
("far away") and the suffix -istan (to make it sound like other far way
countries ending in -istan 🙂 ).
– "Kilometers lang": kilometres long.
hi
I have noticed that many of the dutch work of the day examples involve a man called frank. who is he?
Hi Will,
a sharp observation 🙂
We use the name Frank for the character archetype “annoying colleague”… The character is not based on a real life person…
We also use Frank a lot for office-life related example sentences. Actually, the first example in which the character Frank appeared was in fact based on a real occurrence and a real Frank 🙂 See the example with the expression “onder de tram komen” in DWOTD “Tram” at http://www.dwotd.nl/2006/09/dwotd_38_tram.html
The Timbuktu in “From here to Timbuktu” does
connote great distance but also implies that
the “other end” is a remote, inaccessible,
and probably exotic place. A trip from here
to Timbuktu means either a detour forced
one to go FAR off the usual/obvious route,
or the purpose was to go to somewhere far
away, hard to reach, maybe a bit strange.
As for a ridiculously long queue, it might
be said to be “a mile long” — unless it
really WAS a mile long; then we might be at
a loss for words. 🙂
Thanks LJ – I guess Tokyo is less of an exotic destination 🙂