Meaning
In a remote, out-of-the-way or vaguely unknown place. Informal and comic. Boohai has several historical spellings, reflecting the reshaping of the place name in speech. Regional use: New Zealand.
Origin
Boohai is a popular reshaping of Puhoi, a settlement north of Auckland founded by Bohemian immigrants in 1863. Its historic isolation helped the place name become a joking destination meaning far away or nowhere in particular. Later comic elaborations add impossible activities such as shooting pukeko with a long-handled shovel.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- Gone boohai
- Up Boohai
- Up Puhoi
- Up the boohai shooting pukeko
Usage Examples
- The courier left our parcel up the boohai instead of at the front desk.
- We took one wrong turn and ended up somewhere up Boohai with no phone signal.