Waikikamukau
{{Short description|Generic name for a small rural town in New Zealand}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
Waikikamukau ({{IPAc-en|w|aɪ|k|ɪ|k|ɑː|m|uː|k|aʊ}}, as if saying "Why kick a moo cow") is a generic name for a small rural town or locality in New Zealand. New Zealanders use the name as a placeholder name for "any town" or to denote a non-specific but remote rural town. It has a similar connotation to the New Zealand slang Wop Wops{{cite news
|last=McLachlan|first= Marilynn
|date=20 March 2014
|title=15 Kiwi slang words: A chocka tiki tour in jandals
|url= http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11223196|newspaper= New Zealand Herald|location=
|access-date=11 June 2016 }}
and the Australian term Woop Woop and other appellations such as the "Boondocks" or "Timbuktu".{{
cite book
| title= Whykickamoocow: Curious New Zealand Place Names
| first = Nicola | last=McCloy
| publisher = Random House
| location = New Zealand
| year=2006
|isbn=1-86941-807-7}} The name is a joking reference to the frequency of New Zealand place names starting with "Wai" (Māori for water, and used in the names of many rivers and nearby towns).
Waikikamukau is reputed to specifically refer to the town of Waipukurau in the North Island. The origins are hazy but one account is that the American servicemen stationed in NZ during the Second World War found it difficult to pronounce the place name and thus jokingly called it Waikikamukau. However the name has been in use at least since 1930.{{Cite news|date=22 Mar 1930|title=The passing show|work=Auckland Star|volume=LXI |issue=69 |page=8|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19300322.2.42|access-date=20 Feb 2021|via=Paperspast}}
It was used as the name of a successful racehorse{{
cite web
| url = http://www.pedigreequery.com/waikikamukau
| title = Waikikamukau Horse Pedigree
| work = Thoroughbred Pedigree Database
| accessdate = 15 July 2010
| publisher = Pedigree Query}} in the 1990s.
Waikikamukau was also used as the setting for a Nickelodeon telemovie, Rocket Power: Race Across New Zealand.