No, not anti-pode, an-TIP-o-dee! Or antipodes, if you prefer.
Either way, we're talking about the opposite ends of the earth. Antipode is a noun that means: 'the parts of the earth diametrically opposite, or the exact opposite or contrary [of something]'. My favorite use of this word occurs in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, when Benedick is begging the Prince to help him avoid Beatrice.
Among other delightful phrases in his speech he entreats, "Will your grace command me any service to / the world's end? I will go on the slightest errand now / to the antipodes that you can devise to send me on" (2.1, 251-253). What a drama queen. Spoilers, but he'll go to the ends of the earth for Beatrice anyway, by the end, but they're both just Like That™.
(Actually, two for the price of one. The word benedict means 'a newly married man who has long been a bachelor', just as the character Benedick becomes in Much Ado.)
Anyway, I was fortunate enough to travel to Bali with my mom a few years ago and it is almost exactly on the other side of the world from me. Let me tell you, I got such a kick out of being able to say that I'd been to the antipodes that I still smile to see the word.
Where are your antipodes? If you've been there, comment and share!
-C
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