# Up To or Down To The Capital

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-to-or-down-to-the-capital/364990>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 18, 2006, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-to-or-down-to-the-capital/364990 "2006-07-18T11:30:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-to-or-down-to-the-capital/364990/21 "2006-07-18T19:56:20Z")

</div>

[QUOTE=Chez Guevara]  
Do Americans go up to Washington . . .  
[/QUOTE]

I think we generally just say “to Washington” in most of the country. In the northeast cities, you might hear “down to” about as often. (Ah, I see **ErinPuff** confirms that.) But in the southeast, you won’t really hear “up to Washington” so much.

Where I live and work, just a few miles away from DC, we actually say, “I’m going **into** Washington. (Wish me luck)”.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-to-or-down-to-the-capital/364990/22 "2006-07-18T20:04:46Z")

</div>

Ohioan checking in. Washington, D.C. is to the SE of here. In my experience, most people will say “down to Washington” or simply “to Washington.” For those who say “down to,” it’s a simple description of direction, not an indication of revulsion with the national capital or its officialdom.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-to-or-down-to-the-capital/364990/23 "2006-07-18T22:25:36Z")

</div>

Many thanks for all the replies. I think I’ve got a handle on national and regional usage which is what I was looking for.

I hadn’t thought of the railway system. I’m not sure it’s relevant but I used to be a trainspotter, for which activity please forgive me. I was very young at the time.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-to-or-down-to-the-capital/364990/24 "2006-07-18T23:44:38Z")

</div>

[QUOTE=Chez Guevara]  
…Australians up to Canberra…  
[/QUOTE]

I wouldn’t know. Nobody in their right mind ever goes there. 😃

Seriously, it’s purely based on the compass. I live in Sydney, and would go _down_ to Canberra, Melbourne, or Hobart, _up_ to Brisbane or Darwin, and _over_ to Perth. I have heard of some parochial Australians pointedly using _over to_ where it would more sensibly be _up to_, but that’s rare.

The only exception is the nations railways, where UP trains always go to the state capital, and DOWN trains go away from it. When I went to Melbourne by rail last week, my train was going down until it crossed the Victorian border, and then it started going up.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\
**Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-to-or-down-to-the-capital/364990/25 "2006-07-19T01:36:43Z")

</div>

Wait, you’re traveling to your money? You have so much you have to store it off site?

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-to-or-down-to-the-capital/364990.md?page=1)