End of ADS-L Digest - 6 Jun 1995 to 7 Jun 1995 ********************************************** There are 9 messages totalling 230 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. "over there" -- where? (4) 2. "over there" -- where? (fwd) 3. over there--why? (2) 4. NEH On the Net 5. over where? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 8 Jun 1995 05:43:07 -0500 From: Natalie Maynor Subject: Re: "over there" -- where? > If I think about this any more, I'll never be sure. My first > reaction is that I would use "over there" only for Europe and Asia (any > part). Mexico and Latin America for me are "down there" and Canada is "up > there." But cities or towns here in Vermont can be "over there." My usage is very much like yours. Of the choices on Tim's list, I would use "over" with Europe and Asia only. On first glance, that seems to suggest that "over" requires an ocean. However, I might also go "over to Tuscaloosa." The greater the distance within this country, the less likely I would be to use "over." I might go "over to Atlanta," although that seems to suggest that I consider a five-six-hour drive a pretty casual event. Interestingly, I don't think I'd use "over" with any town west of here, although I *might* use it for a town just one state away -- e.g., I *might* go "over to Shreveport." I would definitely not go "over to Dallas." If I felt compelled to throw in another word (rather than just going "to Dallas," it would be "out to Dallas"). I would never use "over" to go up or down the map -- unless an ocean with a large east-west segment is also involved. I find "out" interesting in this context also. I've noticed that a friend of mine in New England says sometimes that her son in Seattle is coming "out to Rhode Island." That strikes me as backwards. To me, somebody in New England can go "out to Seattle" (or anywhere in the west), but somebody in the west cannot go "out to" somewhere in the east. My New England "out to Rhode Island" friend is originally from California, btw. --Natalie (maynor[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ra.msstate.edu)