{{Short description|Australian term}} thumb|A possible "woop woop" area, located in the outback '''Woop Woop''' ('''wop-wops''' in New Zealand) is an Australian term meaning a place that is a far distance from anything. Equivalent terms include "the middle of nowhere",<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morton |first=Ella |date=2015-09-09 |title=The Australian School Where Students Live Hundreds of Miles From Their Teachers |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-australian-school-where-students-live-hundreds-of-miles-from-their-teachers |access-date=2026-03-19 |website=Atlas Obscura |language=en}}</ref> "the boondocks" (Southern United States), "out in the boonies" (Western Canada), and "out in the sticks" or "the back of beyond" (UK). The term could be used pejoratively.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-21 |title=Australian slang terms every visitor should know |url=https://honey.nine.com.au/latest/australian-slang-terms-visitors-should-know/794646d1-9ed0-42ea-b5ca-b36f1d688f75 |access-date=2026-03-19 |website=honey.nine.com.au |language=en-AU}}</ref>

In a 2024 survey, 52% of newcomers to Australia reported knowing the term.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Crikey! Australian Slang Takes About A Decade To Learn |url=https://www.96fm.com.au/lifestyle/crikey-australian-slang-takes-a-decade-to-learn/ |access-date=2026-03-19 |website=GOLD96FM |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Etymology== Woop woop was first used in the 1890s, along with other terms for imaginary place names like "Oodnagalahbi",<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Woop Woop and other imaginary Australian places {{!}} Destinations {{!}} Open Road {{!}} The NRMA |url=https://www.mynrma.com.au/open-road/destinations/woop-woop-and-other-imaginary-australian-places |access-date=2026-03-19 |website=www.mynrma.com.au}}</ref> to describe a mythical outback town.<ref name="tdd">{{cite book |title=The Dinkum Dictionary |last=Butler |first=Susan |year=2010 |publisher=Text Publishing |isbn=9781921799105 |page=268 |url=https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=v8YuGCn9eIkC |access-date=10 January 2017}}</ref>

The term is said to have been derived from the nickname given to men who carried fleeces in shearing sheds, after the sound they made as they ran around. Another theory indicates that the repetition is inspired by First Nations languages that often use reduplication for emphasis or plurality.<ref name=":0" />

== Usage == ''Welcome to Woop Woop'' is a 1997 Australian comedy film about an American tourist who is kidnapped and brought to a cult named "Woop woop" located in the outback.

In 2021, the term was also used in a book about The Ghan train, titled ''The Train to Oodna-woop-woop: The story of The Ghan''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Train to Oodna-woop-woop - The story of The Ghan |url=https://www.sarlinesbooks.com.au/books/the-train-to-oodna-woop-woop-the-story-of-the-ghan/ |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=Sarlines Railway Books |language=en-US}}</ref>

Whoop Whoop is the name of an Antarctic field camp on the ice plateau {{convert|40|km}} east of Davis Station, used as a ski landing area (SLA) in late summer<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDT60803/IDT60803.89570.shtml |title=Latest Weather Observations for Whoop Whoop |work=Australian Government, Bureau of Meteorology |accessdate=23 January 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.antarctica.gov.au/news/stations/davis/2019/this-week-at-davis-18-january-2019/ |title=This week at Davis: 18 January 2019 |work=Australian Antarctic Division |accessdate=23 January 2023}}</ref> when the early summer sea ice SLAs adjacent to Davis are unusable.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.antarctica.gov.au/antarctic-operations/travel-and-logistics/aviation/intracontinental-operations/ski-landing-area-locations/ |title=Intracontinental ski landing area locations |work=Australian Antarctic Division |accessdate=23 January 2023}}</ref>

== Related Australian terms == thumb|Population density of Australia, where yellow indicates more people Australia is mostly populated in its urban coastal regions. The outback is the most common term to refer to the vast inland region, which has held a fascination in popular Australian culture.<ref name=":0" />

* "Grubba Grubba" is another version commonly found outback in the Kimberley. It was also the name of a sawmill near the town of Wilga in the south-west of Western Australia that was abandoned in 1984.<ref>{{cite book |last=Parry |first=Tom |title=Thumbs Up Australia: Hitchhiking the Outback |url=https://archive.org/details/australiahitchhi00parr |url-access=registration |quote=woop woop. |access-date=May 9, 2013 |year=2006 |publisher=Nicholas Brealey Publishing |isbn=1-85788-390-X |page=[https://archive.org/details/australiahitchhi00parr/page/n6 1]}} </ref> * "Beyond the black stump" is the outback, but something "this side of the black stump" belongs to the known world.<ref name=":0" /> * "Dingo woop woop"

==See also== {{Portal|Australia|New Zealand}} * Outback * The bush * ''Welcome to Woop Woop''

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Australian slang Category:Rural culture in Oceania