Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 04:15:17 -0400

From: "M. Lynne Murphy" 104LYN[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MUSE.ARTS.WITS.AC.ZA

Subject: Re: soda, pop, & upstate NY



alice faber said:



New Jersey). So, while there's a chicken and egg quality to the question, it's

at least possible that the New York City perception that Upstate begins at the

end of the subway lines in the Bronx is a consequence of the way the Times,

and perhaps other, now defunct, newspapers divided the news. And this account

would explain the disparities between the upstate and downstate definitions of

upstate.



(can of worms ahead): i think it's become clear in our old

discussions of this that we can't even say there are 2 (upstate and

downstate) sets of definitions of "upstate" and "downstate"--many

people consider themselves upstaters who other upstaters don't

consider to be upstaters. so, to me, anything south of albany isn't

upstate. i think central/western new yorkers use "upstate" to mean

central/western new york (perhaps i got this idea from the old

_rochester democrat and chronicle_ sunday magazine, _upstate_, which

only dealt with things including and west of the finger lakes.) when

i tell people i'm from upstate new york, an awful lot say "oh, the

adirondacks!", which i wouldn't describe as "upstate new york" but as

"the adirondacks". (i guess for me, "upstate new york" means `part

of the state that doesn't have its own other name'.)



i had a friend from dekalb, illinois, who liked to point out that

rockford, il is part of downstate, although it's north of chicago.



lynne, who can't figure out whether it's p.c. to say i live in the

transvaal



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