The other day I surprised myself with the expression “overhead the garage.” Something I guess I’ve heard all my life, but maybe never used before. Is it a New England expression? A New Hampshire expression? A family expression? Who knows where these quirks of language come from. “Down cellar” is another one. Shouldn’t it be “down in the cellar” or “down to the cellar?” And yet, when we need pickles, we send somebody “down cellar” for a jar.
This got me thinking about other expressions concerning whereabouts that don’t quite work grammatically, but that we use and understand. My grandparent’s house in Danbury was on High Street, on a hill. So when Grammie sent Cousin Debbie and me to Hod Hastings’ store for Wonder Bread, she’d send us “downstreet.”
On the other hand, those who lived in the bog went “upstreet” for staples. If your house is on a level with the place you’re headed in the village, you might say you’re going “overstreet.”
Which brings us to the bigger question of: Where the heck is Maine?
On a map of the United States, Maine looks to be the Northernmost state in New England -- the bulk of it anyway. And yet, when we head to Ogunquit or Portland or Bar Harbor we go “Down East.”
On a map of the United States, deep South looks like Alabama, Georgia, Florida. But if you ask somebody in Colebrook where the deep South lies, they’re apt to say, “Well, it starts round about Plymouth.”
And then there’s the world we call “Away.” Which is not here.
Somewhere North of the Notches, a local police officer stopped a speeder. “Where you from?” he asked the driver.
“Pittsburgh,” the fellow answered.
“Ha,” said the cop, “I know you’re lying. You’ve got Pennsylvania license plates!”
