Waikikamukau
Waikikamukau,
(pronounced as if saying "Why kick a moo cow?"), is a
mythical place in
New Zealand. New Zealanders believe it to be so remote and unpopulated it makes Eketahuna, a small remote rural town in the
Wairarapa, look positively suburban.
Waikikamukau is an example of how a pretend Maori word can be created out of an English phrase. But it gives some insight into how Maori is written and recorded phonetically. Interestingly, a backwards translation of this word from Maori to English, even though it is not a Maori word, renders:
- wai = water, liquid
- ki = against, at, into, to, toward
- ka does not translate, but ika = fish troop victim
- mu does not translate, but mou = for you
- and kamo = eyeball, eyepiece
- kau = cow
Or roughly translated as
Your victimised cow is in the watercourse or to answer the question posed by the word -
so it falls in creek! or perhaps
to watch it fall in the stream!
(If one were to do such a thing on a New Zealand dairy farm today, not only would one be subject to an animal welfare investigation but there would probably be a pollution abatement notice issued by the local council and the dairy company might suspend the farm's milk supply contract.)
See also: List of interesting or unusual place names
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