To London

Posted by Brian from Shawnee on April 22, 2010 at 03:15

In Reply to: To London posted by Smokey Stover on April 18, 2010 at 16:47:

: : : : : Do you go up to London or down to London?

: : : :
: : : : One goes up to London. Wherever one starts from.

: : : : DFG

: : : Yes, but that curious convention means that Londoners starting at Oxbridge go up to university and then up again when they come home. High flyers I expect.

: :
: : You have hit upon a slight glitch in the system...

: : With one minor proviso. The only way to Cambridge is down.

: : DFG

: And now for something completely irrelevant:

: To London, to London,
: To buy a fat pig.
: Back again, back again,
: Jig a jig jig.

: That's neither up nor down. And perhaps I've got it completely wrong.

...but there is a nursery rhyme where London is up...
"Pussycat pussycat, where have you been?
I've been up to London to visit the Queen.
Pussycat pussycat, what did you dare?
I frightened a little mouse under her chair"

...though some versions just say "I've been to London", none of them say "...down to London".

I suppose there are lots of places in the world that are only up, down, over, etc. In New Jersey we only go "down the shore", for example.

• To London Smokey Stover 24/April/10