# Going "back" East

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-back-east/943707>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 6, 2021, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-back-east/943707 "2021-06-06T13:47:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-back-east/943707/41 "2021-06-07T22:16:22Z")

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> [@Hermitian](#):
>
> It is pretty close to those numbers right now! [Cite](https://external-preview.redd.it/cM-B3tIBNQj6ufc0vn_YPdSt7onkNU-jLOPq6s9pm6k.png?auto=webp&s=691a9cadbd52b26ca569910b96d46a68a47147df)

OK, that’s probably what I was thinking of and sorry for not doublechecking. In that case it was even more lopsided 60 years ago.

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**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-back-east/943707/42 "2021-06-08T03:01:51Z")

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I was born and have spent my whole life in California. My mom grew up in Pennsylvania, and she always talked about the way things were “back East.” It never even occurred to me to think this was weird or unusual.

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**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-back-east/943707/43 "2021-06-08T11:57:38Z")

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In Japanese, they 上京 or “go up to the capital”, even if they start off to the north of Tokyo. Idiomatic expressions are idiomatic expressions.

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**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-back-east/943707/44 "2021-07-08T14:14:05Z")

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Similarly in the UK trains are referred to ‘up’ and ‘down’ for away and towards London regardless of the compass direction they’re headed.

I don’t know how ones that neither start nor terminate in London are referred to, presuming there are such trains traveling long enough to not be considered a local.

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**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-back-east/943707/45 "2021-07-08T14:35:27Z")

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> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> Western Reserve University in Cleveland (now part of Case Western Reserve) also draws its name from being in the Northwest Territory.

And the “Reserve” part of Case Western Reserve University refers to the fact that the land was part of the [Connecticut Western Reserve](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecticut_Western_Reserve), land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut under its royal charter.

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