Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[yoshi-pooh]

Hi, everyone!

I'd like to ask a question to someone who is familiar with New York City.

I heard this from an American who is not very familiar with New York. He said when New Yorkers give directions, they say "walk down the street" when it means moving toward Downtown and "walk up the street" to mean walk toward Uptown. I think this very interesting and I'd really like to know if it's true or not. I'd appreciate your reply.

Thank you

yoshi-pooh

[Eric Thompson]

Dear yoshi-pooh, Since no one has replied to your query in 4 days, I will take a stab at it, even though I am not real familiar with The City....We're talking about the Manhatten Island part of New York City, where it all started. It's probably true, what you heard from that guy. The terms 'downtown' and 'uptown' are deeply rooted there, probably because the island is quite long and narrow and generally oriented north/south. The streets are rather grid-like, at right angles: the north/south ones are quite long. The terms 'up' and 'down' are probably due to reading maps, which show north at the top (up) and south at the bottom (down). So, when a New Yorker says 'go up the street', he's saying 'go north, young man'. Ok? -- Eric

[yoshi-pooh]

Hi, Eric

Thank you for your reply, Eric. I really appreciate it.
I thought this interesting because people in Kyoto have similar habit. They say "go up"(agaru in Japanese), when they mean "go in the direction of north" and "go down"(sagaru) to mean "go southward."

yoshi-pooh