# Which way is up? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 20, 2012, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-up/638310 "2012-10-20T09:22:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-up/638310/41 "2012-10-22T17:23:14Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > “Up” means go forward. Those directions are ambiguous unless Smith St. is one-way. That’s what I thought of too. Smith St. must be one way so “up” means against the flow, just like it would with a river, except way more dangerous. Moral: don’t ask for directions from psychopaths. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-up/638310/42 "2012-10-22T20:18:32Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > In Montreal, at least in the part south of the mountain, “up” straightforwardly means “uphill, i.e. away from the river,” which is also the direction in which the numbers get higher. > > Of course, the compass directions themselves are [a little quirky around here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Montreal#Street_directions). > > Incidentally, in French, you say _monter à Montréal_ and _descendre à Québec_ (go up to Montreal/go down to Quebec City). Why? Up and down _stream_, along the St. Lawrence. Of course if you were in Ottawa, you’d _descendre à Montréal_ (along the Ottawa River in this case), and if you were in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré you’d _monter à Québec_. Comme je disais. Je dois être une montréalaise. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-up/638310/43 "2012-10-22T20:26:49Z")
Around Hamilton, ‘up’ would probably be South, just because of the psychological influence of the escarpment - even if you don’t reach it or you’re already on it, there’s still the association of going south to go ‘up the hill’. For east/west streets, I might think of west being up, just because Westdale is an uptown kinda neighborhood. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-up/638310/44 "2012-10-22T20:33:46Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > “Up” means go forward. Those directions are ambiguous unless Smith St. is one-way. > [@cochrane](#): > > But, according to the OP, you’re already going forward along Anderson Avenue, until you reach Smith Street, in which case you have a choice of going left or right. So whichever way you turn becomes the new “forward.” > > Or in other words, you almost always are driving forward from your point of view. Which is exactly why those directions are ambiguous. “Up” is not a useful direction for navigating streets. ---
**Author:** ![Krouget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b38774/32.png) [@Krouget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krouget)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-up/638310/45 "2012-10-22T20:34:19Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > To _me_, “go up Smith Street” or “go down Smith Street” or “go forward on Smith Street” or “go along Smith Street” all mean essentially the same thing. I’d agree with this, and only add that each word is being interchanged with “proceed”, which is what I take all of them to mean. The directions make sense, if there is only one direction to proceed on the street, otherwise they are poor directions. [ul] [li]_“then turn and go up Smith Street until you see the red house”, which way is “up”-left, or right?"_[/li][/ul] In the sentence, above, “up” isn’t the confusing part of the instruction; it’s the exclusion of “right or left”. The following would work well enough, for me: [ul] [li]_“then turn **right** and go up Smith Street […]”_[/li][/ul] “Up” is still present, but within context, I understand that I’m continuing along the street, after turning right. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-up/638310/46 "2012-10-22T20:39:11Z")
> [@Krouget](#): > > [ul] > [li]_“then turn **right** and go up Smith Street […]”_[/li][/ul] Apparently some people would say “But right on Smith Street goes down!” ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-up/638310/47 "2012-10-22T20:48:04Z")
As far as directions go, unless refering to numbers, it’s generally pretty ambiguous and worthless. I could see “go up the street until…” and “go down the street until…” as equivalent otherwise. Yes, a lot of people associate up with North, but practical usage seems to be pretty random. As far as those directions go, without a specified direction, I would assume either it’s a T-intersection, and thus only one way to turn. If that’s not the case, I seriously doubt they’d really be following too closely which way the numbers go and expect you to figure out, so they’re just bad directions. Hell, even when it’s a T-intersection and there’s only one way to turn, it’s still helpful to know that it’s a left or a right. I don’t think I’ve ever seen directions that aren’t explicit about which way to turn. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-up/638310.md?page=2)