"far to"...specific spot?

[sagehen]

>On Mon, 30 Dec 2002, sagehen wrote:
>
>#While the expression "far to the north (south, east, west)"  is normal
>#and familiar, "far to (specific spot)", which I ran across in a New
>#England writer today, looks very odd to me.  Is this a regionalism or
>#idiosyncratic?
>
>I can only get it meaning "the distance from here (or other location) to
>[specified spot] is far", and at that it seems to be almost negative
>polarity: e.g. (made-up) "I asked if it was very far to Shrewsbury, and
>they couldn't tell me."
>
>I can't figure more about the construction you're asking about without
>more context.
>
>-- Mark A. Mandel
~~~~~~
Of course I see your problem.  I didn't give enough information to be clear.
The partial quote: "He was in New York's Washington Heights section, far to
Manhattan's northern tip, near the George Washington Bridge....".

Either "far to the north" or "far up toward Manhattan's,&c." would be clear
at once to me, but this one I stumbled over.

This is a very able writer, which is why I wondered if it might be a
regionalism that I simply was unfamiliar with.
A. Murie





A&M Murie
N. Bangor NY
sagehen at westelcom.com