Bumfuk, Egypt

[snopes]

Comment: This may be the dumbest question you have ever received, but I've
got to ask...

Is there an Egyptian city whose name is or resembles "Bumfuk"?

My husband, upon return from a deployment into Egypt, swears to me that
such a city exists. Am I just ridiculously gullible, or is he telling the
truth (for once)?

When you enter the name into wikipedia, it returns this. Basically, bumf**k, Egypt is a name to indicate that a place or thing is in the middle of nowhere. It isn't actually anywhere real.

[Jenn]

I suspect she's gullible. As far as I know, Bumfuk, Egypt (or BFE) is the term used by armed forces services members (especially serving in the Middle East) to mean way the hell out in the middle of nowhere where you just don't want to go. Equivalents would be something like "Armpit, Saskatchewan", "Podunk, USA" or even "Timbuktu" used as hyperbole.

[lynnejanet]

My husband uses the expression Bumf**k, Idaho to describe any place that's in the middle of nowhere. I made the assumption that it was a somewhat common usage, but knowing DH, he may have made it up.

[Signora Del Drago]

Jenn, you'd be surprised to know how many people don't know that Timbuktu is a real place. Or maybe you wouldn't.

[mags]

In my family, BFE refers to Butt NFBSK-ing Egypt. So it never occurred to me to think there was a real one.

[Jenn]

Originally Posted by Signora Del Drago

Jenn, you'd be surprised to know how many people don't know that Timbuktu is a real place. Or maybe you wouldn't.

I probably wouldn't, especially since I remember being a bit surprised when I found out myself that it was a real place. I thought Timbuktu was some mythical place on the other side of Hell's half acre which you had to drive all over God's green earth to get to.

[glass papaya]

Originally Posted by Jenn

I probably wouldn't, especially since I remember being a bit surprised when I found out myself that it was a real place. I thought Timbuktu was some mythical place on the other side of Hell's half acre which you had to drive all over God's green earth to get to.

Hey, I've been to Hell's half-acre. It's in Wyoming.

[snapdragonfly]

I always heard (and said it) as BUMBLEnfbsk, Egypt.

I think the "bum" is just a slurring of "bumble." I think it's bumblenfbsk to indicate bumbling around, and the nfbsk to indicate nfbsking around, as in, totally lost and out in the middle of nowhere with no idea where you were going.

That's the context I've always heard it used.

For some silly reason I can't remember, in college, we combined that expression with the name of a lake in South America (Lake Titicaca, and yes, there is such a lake) and came up with our own expression, "bumble-caca-titi-nfbsk", but I don't remember what we used it to mean. Prolly cause we were giggling so much when we said it.

[NeeCD]

I've used BFE to describe the town I grew up in ever since, at least, High School (mid 80's, that is). I've never heard any other version of the phrase than the one in the OP, and it would never have occurred to me to think it was a real place.

I was also surprised to find out that Timbuktu was a real place, but I think it was in a Jr. High Social Studies class, so I was only 12 or 13. I also seem to remember a cartoon with Timbuktu in it (maybe one of the educational cartoons of the time) but I can't remember any details of it.

ETA I just did a quick Google, and I think the cartoon was the opening of the Commander McBragg sequences during the Underdog show. That would make it late 70s for me.

I've been to Timbuktu (the original one, not just the one in California). When I announced I was going there, the two most common reactions were
*You mean there really is such a place?
and
*Wow! I've always wanted to see the Himalayas.

Back to the OP. I found a comment that the term comes from "a very real place in Egypt called ''Bamfouk.'" Naturally, said metropolis does not exist--unless there is a cartographic conspiracy to hide that name and just about any other variation from any Google search.

[Crackrzz]

Ehhh... I think there's a place called Armpit Arm or something like that in Newfoundland somewhere.

[Nick Theodorakis]

Originally Posted by KathyB

I've been to Timbuktu (the original one, not just the one in California). When I announced I was going there, the two most common reactions were
*You mean there really is such a place?
and
*Wow! I've always wanted to see the Himalayas.
...

They prolly confused it K-K-K-K-K-Katmandu. (That's really, really where I'm going to...)

Nick

[Zorro]

We always use the term East BumbleNFBSK to mean something in the middle of nowhere.

When I worked in Portage, IN in the late 80s, the employees all used ButtF***, Indiana (shortened to BFI). It always cracked me up to see the dumpsters with "BFI" on them (it's a waste-hauling co.)

[Richard W]

Originally Posted by Nick Theodorakis

They prolly confused it K-K-K-K-K-Katmandu. (That's really, really where I'm going to...)

Nick

I've not been to Timbuktu (yet) but I have been to Kathmandu, and I couldn't see the Himalayas from there either... well, I suppose you could see the foothills if those count. You might be able to see actual mountains on a clear day, but not with the usual haze.

[Johnny Slick]

Originally Posted by snapdragonfly

I always heard (and said it) as BUMBLEnfbsk, Egypt.

I think the "bum" is just a slurring of "bumble." I think it's bumblenfbsk to indicate bumbling around, and the nfbsk to indicate nfbsking around, as in, totally lost and out in the middle of nowhere with no idea where you were going.

That's the context I've always heard it used.

For some silly reason I can't remember, in college, we combined that expression with the name of a lake in South America (Lake Titicaca, and yes, there is such a lake) and came up with our own expression, "bumble-caca-titi-nfbsk", but I don't remember what we used it to mean. Prolly cause we were giggling so much when we said it.

No, I'm pretty sure it's from ButtNFBSKing Egypt. See, funny thing about guys. We like to compare every uncomfortable thing we do to having a male sex organ stuck up our rear end. I think it's to squelch that little part in all of us who think said action would not be so uncomfortable, particularly if it were with someone we loved or a hottie like Brad Pitt. Did I say that? What I meant to say is that it would be the worst thing ever period ever. Unless you are gay, and that's okay because you have some crazy genetic disorder or didn't shower with your dad enough when you were a kid or something.

Kind of like my younger brother, who when he was a kid hated raisins with a passion and compared all foods he disliked with raisins. He had a whole Raisin System which he'd use to explain his loathing of a new pie or entree Mom or Dad would make. "Ugh, this shepherd's pie is like eating raisin stew." "Mom, seriously, when you use all those bay leaves it just makes the pecan pie taste raisiny." Well, one day we caught him eating a packet of Raisinets. He's gay now. Do you understand what I'm saying?

Seriously, I'm pretty sure "bumbleNFBSK" is an allusion to "bumNFBSK" in and of itself, so even if BFE is descended from your term, that's only an additional degree of separation from the root of all male joy horror.

We in my circle always called it BFN (ButtF**kin Nowhere). It wasn't 'til I got to college that I heard anyone refer to BFE. Imagine my surprise to learn that BFE was the more common useage.

In my family, we also sometimes refer to it as being out in "the back forty."

[RingKeeper]

Originally Posted by Crackrzz

Ehhh... I think there's a place called Armpit Arm or something like that in Newfoundland somewhere.

It's Joe Batt's Arm - Arm meaning a piece of land that reaches out, somewhat like a peninsula. Who Joe Batt is, I don't know. But there is a town here called Dildo.

[Jay Tea]