Meaning:
A lonely forsaken place.
Background:
The inland desert region of Australia that is otherwise known as the
Never-never is also sometimes called the `Back of Beyond'.
The term is more generally used to refer to any real or imagined remote
region. It was first put into print by Sir Walter Scott in his novel The
Antiquary, 1816:
"You... whirled them to the back of beyond to look at the auld Roman camp."
The Scots and Irish dialect version `back o' beyant' is also found in print
throughout the 19th century. It's quite possible that Scott anglicised a
rural expression rather than coined it himself - something he did numerous
times with other phrases.
- www.phrases.org.uk [edited]
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The back of beyond might be real, but "lonely and forsaken" is merely
world-weary over-fed middle-aged lifers spooking themselves. Even the Death
Valley is full of life.
Back in the 60s, Dick Proenneke went up to Alaska, built a wood cabin, and lived
there for 30 years. No nine-to-five, no healthcare, dental, or vision coverage,
no FDA dietary guidance, no cruise vacation, no mortgages or cars, or any other
trappings and noise imposed on moderns. As shown in the documentary "Alone in
The Wilderness," he led a fascinating life and seemed much less lonely than most
megacity dwellers.
[This phrase is a revisit, I found out after jotting down the above, and I was
amazed that I thought of the same Proenneke story.]
