up-state/down-state Vermont

Joel S. Berson Berson at ATT.NET
Wed May 18 17:29:23 UTC 2011


At 5/18/2011 12:34 PM, Shapiro, Fred wrote:
>Isn't the major city in Vermont very much in the north?

If one chooses the proper magnification in Google Maps, there are no
cities in Vermont at all!

Yes, Burlington. like a few other towns, is quite north.  And even on
a body of water that has its outlet to the north.  But many of the
larger cities and towns in Vermont are in the southern half, from
White River Junction down, and on the south-flowing Connecticut River.

There definitely is an upstate Vermont (according to 10,900 people),
but where it is I leave to others to tease out from the geographical
references.  And one speaker says "If you look at the upstate Vermont
border, there are few towns around AT ALL. Once you get to upstate
Vermont, the only thing around is a very long drive to ..."  [This
speaker is probably coming from upstate New York, perhaps even north
of Burlington.]

Joel

Joel

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



More information about the Ads-l mailing list