Back east, out west, down south, up north

[Amira]

If you're from a place where English is the dominant native language, are any or all of these terms used?

 

I grew up in Utah and we used back east (even though our family has been in the western US for five generations). I didn't ever think about it much till I moved to the east coast and heard people say out west. I've never used down south or up north nor have I heard them much either, especially not in Utah. I'm wondering if back east and out west in particular are USisms.

 

Also, if you're from the eastern US, what states would you consider to be out west? Or if you're from the western US, what states are back east? And if you're from the middle of the US, are any states out west or back east?

[regentrude]

I am in the Midwest, and all four are used, but three more than the other.

Out West refers to states starting with Colorado and further west, so basically beyond the Continental Divide, on the Western side of the Rockies.

Down South and Up North are used as well.

I have heard Back East used only by people who originally stem from the East - West Virginia and further east.

 

To me, the distinction makes sense: up/down refer to map orientation, out refers to the historical Westward expansion. Those are universal. Back East, however, makes sense only for people who or whose families originated there, at least at some point.

 

ETA: Referring to North as "up" and South as "down" is common in other countries as well. We definitely use this in Germany, even though the actual elevation of the Northern part is sea level and the South has the mountains. Because, of course, north is the top of the page :-) But there is no "out" west, because that's not how the country settled.

[Hikin' Mama]

I live in the northwest and have heard people say all these, although I don't say them myself. I usually just say in the south, north of us, or in the east. I'm not really sure what I say when referring to the west because I live here. :)

 

ETA: Usually if I am talking about more west than me it's because I'm headed to the Oregon Coast or some place in western Oregon, so I just say "the Oregon Coast" or "name of city" in western Oregon.

[DawnM]

Back East always cracks me up.  People on the West Coast who had NEVER even been to the East Coast would use it.  How can you go BACK if you have never been there before?

 

Those same people would say "Down South."  They were living in SoCal......many of the places they were talking about were NOT South of them, just East.

[Farrar]

I'm from the south and the only one I didn't hear growing up was "back east" - though I heard it later, probably first from relatives in California.

 

I think of North Dakota down to Texas and everything beyond as being "out west."

[Guest]

I live in the mid-atlantic and, while all of those terms are frequently used by people here, I generally only hear older generations say "Back East," unless they are on the west coast and are talking about returning to the east coast where they are from. Almost everyone says "up north," "down south," and "out west."

 

By "out west," people generally mean Colorado through to the west coast.

[Carrie12345]

I don't really refer to anything west b/c I'm so Americaeastcentric.  My family moved "down south", I stayed "up north."

[Pink and Green Mom]

I grew up in NJ, lived in DC/VA for many years, and now live in FL.  I have heard and used all except "back east."  I guess that is because I have always been in the east.  And to me, "out west" means anything west of Ohio.  :lol:

[DawnM]

And then there is my husband who told people in CA that he was from "back East."  He was from Michigan.  I hardly call that "back East."

[MysteryJen]

Hello from out west! We use all of them here in Colorado. Though out west usually refers to Wyoming/Montana, not where we live. Anything east of the Mississippi is well, east. Unless you are down south.

 

If your winters are bad and there is a lot of farmland in your state, you might be up north.

[Jane in NC]

While I definitely live in the East, on the edge as it were, this coastal gal usually hears my world referred to as "The South".  The only person I knew who called this area "the East" was a woman from Alabama who said, "Honey, why do you think they call it North Carolina?  It is not part of the South!"  Alrighty then.

 

What is amusing to me is that "Down East" is the New England term for the coast of Maine--which most people travel to by going up not down--assuming up means north in the global perspective.

 

In Michigan, which seems "up north" from my point of view, "Up North" means the northern part of the state. 

 

I am tempted to draw my western line at the Rockies.

[lllll]

nm

[Sara in AZ]

I'm from Utah, too. Back East was the most common reference I remember. I don't remember referring to the other directions in that way. Here in AZ I think I hear up North most frequently.

[Word Nerd]

On a slightly unrelated topic, I've always thought Midwest was misnamed. 

[Starr]

This old mom has lived on both coasts and  heard all of those terms used. I do take issue with the middle states being, out west. haha But then again we live in a big country. My relatives traveling in wagon must have felt they were out west long before they hit Oregon. 

[Zinnia]

I live in the southeast, and no one says "down south" here.  Well, except for people that we know from up north.  ;)  We do say "out west," and that pretty much covers anything west of the Mississippi.

[almondbutterandjelly]

I live in South Texas, and up north is everything above San Antonio.  Also anywhere it snows.  

[wendyroo]

In Michigan, which seems "up north" from my point of view, "Up North" means the northern part of the state. 

 

That's what I was going to say too.  I'm a Michigander, and here up North generally means the upper peninsula of Michigan.  

 

Down South would be approximately below the Mason Dixon and east of the Mississippi.

 

Out West would be in/near/beyond the Rockies.  

 

I don't hear "back East" very often, but I can understand how that terminology would have evolved - with so many people heading out West, it makes sense that they would have referred to people, places and events going on back East.

 

The east/west thing is so nuanced.  I always love listening to the University of Michigan fight song:

Hail! to the victors valiant

Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes

Hail! Hail! to Michigan,

The champions of the West!

 

West?!?!  UofM is 400 miles and 3 states east of the Mississippi river!!

 

Wendy

[OneStepAtATime]

I live in South Texas, and up north is everything above San Antonio.  Also anywhere it snows.  

Speaking of this, why is San Antonio considered South Texas (and even San Antonian wx people call it that)?  You could drive another 4 or 5 hours south before you ran out of state to drive in.

[SKL]

I've heard them and maybe used them, mainly as fun colorful language.  I assume they are leftovers from the days when the nation was expanding from east to west.  From the days when "back east" was the recent origin of most west-of-New England white families.  "Out west" would be how most people in the older states viewed the land west of the Mississippi (at least) while the east-west expansion was happening.

 

"Up north" and "down south" just kinda make sense if you like using more than 1 word to express a simple thought.  :)

 

One thing that used to intrigue me was why some locations are "uptown" and others are "downtown."

[umsami]

I grew up in Michigan.  When I was there, up North was the UP (Upper Peninsula)....maybe Traverse City or Canada.   Down South was from Ohio below. LOL  Out East would by New England.  Out West would be starting at Wisconsin probably. ;)

 

I've lived in DC, NY, TN, and FL.  Currently I'm in FL.  We're in the South.  All of the snowbirds go back up North.  East still refers generally to the East Coast....although when I lived on the Atlantic Coast it didn't really apply.  

 

For me, out West probably starts West of the Mississippi.  If I want to specify the west coast, I'll say the west coast...  but any of the west of the Mississippi states are out West.  

 

I, too, think that the Mid-West was perhaps a mistake in naming.  I mean Michigan is more east than west....or at least central.   I think Great Lakes states makes more sense for Michigan.   Here's a bunch about how the term came to be, though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States

[Jean in Newcastle]

Yes, I use all of them.  They are part of our language.  

[liber]

We say down east. Any Maritimers I know say down east. Maybe it is because we say down home when referring to the east coast and it morphed from there.

[creekland]

They're all used here in our travels and with people we know.

 

Out west starts with the Rockies.  Down south starts with Virginia.  Up north starts with PA.  (Sorry MD, everyone tends to leave you out!)  Back east means east coast.

 

Other areas generally used are "The Plains," and "The Desert Southwest."

 

None others come to mind at this point.

 

Hubby grew up in NC after moving there from Richmond, VA in 4th grade.  His classmates and others called him a Yankee... It still puzzles both of us how someone moving from the capital of the Confederacy could be a Yankee...

[myfunnybunch]

so I just say "the Oregon Coast"

My mom lives back east (see what I did there? :P ) and she says going to the coast is definitely a PNWism. Everybody else in the country (according to her) says they are going to the beach. :D

 

I say back east, down south. Up north is Canada, and if I went out west, I'd end up in the Pacific Ocean, passing the coast on the way, of course, so I don't have much occasion to use out west. When I am back east, I say I live in Oregon or in the PNW.

[myfunnybunch]

And I mean it.

 

DP

[kewb]

I have heard and used them all. When I am out west I will go back east to go home. Anything south of me is down south and anything north is up north. Anything west of the east coast is heading out west.

It is truly directional if looking at a map. But out west usually makes me think of California.

[MEmama]

We say down east. Any Maritimers I know say down east. Maybe it is because we say down home when referring to the east coast and it morphed from there.

In Maine, Downeast refers to the eastern coast, generally Penobscot bay to the border. It's a sailing term--sailors from Boston sailed east from Boston (the Maine coast runs more easterly than north-south) with the winds to their backs, hence down east. It is commonly used here though I never heard it used when we lived in New Brunswick.

 

Back east is the east coast, out west is cowboy country and beyond, down south is anything south of...Massachusetts?, never hear up north, maybe because we tend to live in northern states.

[Lady Florida.]

I've only ever lived on the east coast: New Jersey, Florida, Georgia, back to Florida.

 

Down south, up north, out west. Those are all terms I've used. While I'm aware of back east I've neither used it nor heard it used in my presence. That's probably because I've never been far enough west to hear it or use it. Even when we were in Texas it was to visit family, so what others might have called back east we called back home.

 

To me, out west begins somewhere around the Rockies.

 

On the east coast of Florida (or at least my area of the east coast of Florida) "the west coast" often refers to the west coast of Florida. "We're going over to the west coast for the weekend" is not uncommon and is commonly understood to NOT mean you're going to California, Oregon, or Washington only for a weekend.

[lllll]

nm

[elegantlion]

I live in the mid-west and use them all. 

 

As in: 

 

"I generally went out west for vacation as a kid."

"My family came from back east originally."

"We lived down south for a while."

"I'd like to go up north to a conference this fall."

[MEmama]

While I definitely live in the East, on the edge as it were, this coastal gal usually hears my world referred to as "The South". The only person I knew who called this area "the East" was a woman from Alabama who said, "Honey, why do you think they call it North Carolina? It is not part of the South!" Alrighty then.

 

 

My dad grew up in Alabama and went to school at Duke. He didn't consider North Carolina to be the true South, either (although it was still too southern for his preference). He also doesn't consider Oklahoma to be the South, although my inlaws who are from there definitely consider themselves southern.

 

I wouldn't consider NC to be The East, even though it's obviously on the east coast. The East to me is New England, south of that along the coast is bordering on southern.

[Lady Florida.]

My mom lives back east (see what I did there? :p ) and she says going to the coast is definitely a PNWism. Everybody else in the country (according to her) says they are going to the beach. :D

 

 

 

Perhaps your mom has never lived in New Jersey? In NJ we went down the shore. Here in Florida we go to the beach. I don't know where you go if you live in neither NJ or FL. ;)

[Hikin' Mama]

My mom lives back east (see what I did there? :P ) and she says going to the coast is definitely a PNWism. Everybody else in the country (according to her) says they are going to the beach. :D

 

I say back east, down south. Up north is Canada, and if I went out west, I'd end up in the Pacific Ocean, passing the coast on the way, of course, so I don't have much occasion to use out west. When I am back east, I say I live in Oregon or in the PNW.

And when I lived in New Jersey (I was a nanny for a year), people said they were going to "the shore." :)

[Hikin' Mama]

Perhaps your mom has never lived in New Jersey? In NJ we went down the shore. Here in Florida we go to the beach. I don't know where you go if you live in neither NJ or FL. ;)

I think we were posting at the same time. :)

[MEmama]

My mom lives back east (see what I did there? :P ) and she says going to the coast is definitely a PNWism. Everybody else in the country (according to her) says they are going to the beach. :D

 

 

We live on the coast but go to the beach to swim.

 

Beaches are sandy, the coast is the rest of it (much like the coastline of the PNW).

 

But I'm a northern California native, maybe it's all engrained!

[Tsuga]

My family hasn't lived on the East Coast for three generations but we do say "back east".

 

We don't say "down south" because to us it is southeast. We say "in the South", and "on the East Coast". I don't think we say anything to refer to ourselves... the West Coast, just "on the West Coast".

 

And yes, to us the coast is different from the beach. Some of the coast doesn't have a beach.

 

That said, for the purposes of teaching English, I have heard all of those terms used by people from Michigan and Minnesota. :D

[creekland]

VA is very Northern.  The other day I was talking to a transplanted NJ/NY woman who said she first moved to SC and that was "too Southern". She then moved to the border of NC and VA, and that was still "too Southern".  She finally found a place where she felt at right at home (ie.  more 'Northern') in the upper half of VA.  VA has become a lot like Florida (only in reverse) - the northern part of the state is still 'Southern', but the southern part of the state is very 'Northern' because of all the transplanted Northerners who live there.  At least, that's what I always heard when growing up in the South.  Never lived in Florida and no desire to live there.  :tongue_smilie:

 

Northern VA (Nova) is very northern in attitude and more and has been for many years.  Parts of NC are that way too to be honest.

 

Richmond and surrounding areas still aren't and certainly weren't 40 years ago when hubby moved from there to tobacco growing country (aka "southern") in NC.  Richmond was also tobacco growing and processing country at that time.  His family moved because his dad got transferred (worked as a foreman with a tobacco company).

 

The interesting thing about "the South" (Florida being an exception) is it always starts at "your" point and includes anything further south.  It never includes points north of you - even if that city was the capital of the Confederacy...  His school also taught all about "The War of Northern Aggression."  Yankees were anyone from points north.  I don't think US History went beyond that point actually, but I'd have to ask him to be certain my memory is correct.  I know "we" (in NY) studied the World Wars and Korea/Vietnam, etc, but I seem to recall when comparing schools in eons past, that he didn't.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I don't use any of those terms really.  If I think what is "west" I imagine someone with a cowboy hat wearing cowboy boots with spurs.  Which I know is ridiculous, but yeah.

 

 

[3 ladybugs]

Grew up in Washington state, live in New Jersey, have lived in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Florida also. I have used all terms before. For me west is west of the Great Plains, east is east of Chicago, south is east from Dallas, south of Tennessee (though driving on I-95 Virginia feels fairly southern) and doesn't include south of Orlando, Florida, north is more of a general direction for me.

 

When I was in Portland, Oregon about 20 years ago I was at a Fred Meyer and I mentioned to the checkout girl that I wish that they had these on the east coast, her reply was classic, she said "well we have them in Montana!" My reply was simple, "Montana is a few days driving distance from New York!" I realized then that I would have to homeschool. 😂😂😂

[myfunnybunch]

Perhaps your mom has never lived in New Jersey? In NJ we went down the shore. Here in Florida we go to the beach. I don't know where you go if you live in neither NJ or FL. ;)

 

That's so funny, because reading that, I remember her husband saying something like, "Unless you live in New Jersey, then you go to the shore." :D

[SparklyUnicorn]

Interesting. I never said "go down the shore". 

[MEmama]

His school also taught all about "The War of Northern Aggression." Yankees were anyone from points north. I don't think US History went beyond that point actually, but I'd have to ask him to be certain my memory is correct. I know "we" (in NY) studied the World Wars and Korea/Vietnam, etc, but I seem to recall when comparing schools in eons past, that he didn't.

My mother, who grew up in Germany during and after the war, said a similar thing about her school days. History went to the beginning of the century, and then started over again. There was no mention ever of the war. She learned more about it after moving over here than she knew growing up, explaining too late some of the awful things that had been done to her while she nannied in France and England in the very early sixties.

 

We once went to a WW2 museum in northern Italy that somehow failed to mention the country's less than stellar role. It was like their history just never happened.

[milovany]

... the coast is the rest of it (much like the coastline of the PNW ...

 

 

We live in eastern Washington and anything west of the Cascades is often referred to as "the coast." Seattle, for example, is part of the coast, as is Vancouver, WA. LOL. All the way to the Pacific is called going to the ocean.

[lllll]

nm

[almondbutterandjelly]

Speaking of this, why is San Antonio considered South Texas (and even San Antonian wx people call it that)?  You could drive another 4 or 5 hours south before you ran out of state to drive in.

 

That's interesting.  I don't really consider S.A. South Texas.  If it is, it is the tippiest top of it.  I actually sort of consider it the beginning of the Hill Country.

[OneStepAtATime]

That's interesting.  I don't really consider S.A. South Texas.  If it is, it is the tippiest top of it.  I actually sort of consider it the beginning of the Hill Country.

Exactly!  What are they thinking?  :)

[MyThreeSons]

I have lived on both coasts, and have heard or used all of those terms. I don't know exactly where the lines are drawn in my mind. 

 

I remember disagreeing with my Grandmother, though, who said that she lived "in the West". She was in Kansas. When I said that we (in California) lived in the West, she said that no, we lived in the Far West. 

 

[ErinE]

Speaking of this, why is San Antonio considered South Texas (and even San Antonian wx people call it that)? You could drive another 4 or 5 hours south before you ran out of state to drive in.

There's a whole lotta state north of San Antonio.

 

I'd consider San Antonio Hill Country more than South Texas, but I could see how people would say it, if San Anotonio is the most northern point of the region.

[AK_Mom4]

It's all relative.

 

All you folks live Down South.