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In the Eastern part of the US, folks typically refer to the Western part of the country as "Out West." Conversely, those from the West call the other part "Back East." I've always liked these terms, as each conveys to me a particular set of vaguely historical images. Out West makes me think of the dusty cow-towns of cowboy, westerns, where the law was laid down by Mr. Colt. Back East always calls to mind images of wagon trains trundling across the Great Plains, the brave families aboard wondering if they'll reach the mountain passes 'afore the snows set in - makes clear to me just how short the history of this country is, that such things are still so present in our language.
One also hears "Down South" and "Up North," but these are somehow much less evocative, as they seem to gibe with the directions on a map rather than the historical development of a country.
I'm wondering if there are other such phrases people use around the world that convey such things, or that we don't understand - examples for me include "Down Under" for the antipodean regions and "Down East," which is used to refer to portions of the coast of Maine.
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in NY there is Down State ==NYC(even a Down State Medical School here in NYC.) everything out side of NYC is Up State.. (for NYC anyway!) but check with Faldage or Angel.. that might not be true Up State.
inside the city.. there is down town, and up town.. and the bridge and tunnel crowd. the bridge and tunnel crowd are those who do not live on Manhattan island.. and get into Manhattan by bridge or tunnel.
for out of towners, Manhattan is NY. for NY State, too, since Manhattan is NY county. Other boroughs are other counties. (NYC has 5 state counties, 7 main post offices, (3 in queen, 1 in each other borough) over 1000 islands, of which apx. 25 are occupied, not counting the former island that are now part of the mainland, (coney island, ie).
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Then we have downtown and uptown, referring, as I understand it, to the central business district and the up-scale residential area.
Interestingly, although the dictionary sites define downtown as the business center, they define uptown merely as the town's "upper part", without saying whether they mean "upper" in the geographical sense or in the sense of up-scale and upper class.
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everything out side of NYC is Up State.. (for NYC anyway!) but check with Faldage or Angel..
Yep, Helen, that is true here. But in the Buffalo, we prefer to be referred to as Western New York, which takes on the area of the 8 most western counties in the state.
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In most places offshore means far out to sea. But here among the barrier island residents (of South Jersey, at least) offshore means on the mainland. Usually in the phrase you have to go offshore for that or similar context. However, there are times when discussing fishing or boating that we'll still use it in it's typical meaning of out to sea.
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One expression I particularly like comes from Newfoundland. If you are not from Newfoundland you are from away.
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From away is also big in Maine, as in "He's not really from away; he wintahs in Florida, but he still summahs heah. Ayuh!"
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Hello Hyla, I don't think I've ever replied to one of your posts before!! I'm wondering if there are other such phrases people use around the world that convey such things, or that we don't understand - examples for me include "Down Under"
What's to not understand? We're down under... (unless you believe the SatireWire article where we barged our way into the northern hemisphere) http://makeashorterlink.com/?A2BE32E7
The term "Down Under" probably became known worldwide from the 'Men at Work' song http://www2.tpg.com.au/users/vegemite/menatwork.html which became famous the second time around when Australia won the America's Cup yee hah! all those years ago. I'm not sure how it really started though... Might need some help from those other fine Aussies - although every Aussie Slang dictionary I've consulted tells me I have to include the Zilders in this too. 
Hev
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Another illogicality is that we always go 'up' to London, regardless of where you're travelling from. And it often gets referred to as 'town'. Eg. if you're having a weekend in the country and you're about to travel back to London, you might ask when we were heading back to town.
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