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I sometimes see this phrase. I'm not sure when to use it, is it about a place that is geographically low?

For example (taken from Ludwig):

It's not going to be nice down there.

She's down there crying.

It's nice to be down there and not watch TV.

Could it be used interchangeably with "Over there"?

SunnySideDown
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  • It depends on the broader context. Could mean a lower floor of the building. Could mean "downtown". Could mean a "mean" location. Could mean Australia. – Hot Licks May 27 '19 at 00:14
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    @HotLicks Oi! Or maybe, Oi! Oi! Oi! :) – Lawrence May 27 '19 at 00:30
  • @HotLick What does "mean location“ means? Could I use 'down there' to describe any place on earth that is not right here? Is it about style? – SunnySideDown May 27 '19 at 00:55
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    @SunnySideDown - The wrong side of the tracks, the slums, etc. Anywhere that is looked down upon. – Hot Licks May 27 '19 at 01:00
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    Oxford: adjective 3 (especially of a place) poor in quality and appearance; shabby. – Hot Licks May 27 '19 at 01:42
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    Can also mean a little way south (not necessarily the other side of the world) as in We're going down to Brighton to see my parents this weekend, then up to York next week to see hers. –  May 27 '19 at 02:09
  • @Minty - Yep, and "down in New Orleans" (or maybe "down in Norlins") would be quite idiomatic in much of the US. – Hot Licks May 27 '19 at 03:12

1 Answers1

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This is nothing at all special about this collocation. You need to learn to see this as just one instance of a far more general form.

It’s exactly like any of over, under, up, down, around, near (and others) combined with here or there.

The first element is an adverb of location and the second element is one of the two (or three) locative deictics here or there — or possibly in some speakers, also yonder for a more distant position than there would refer to.

tchrist
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  • Is there a reason why this question is considered better suited to ELU than to ELL (where I'm not at all sure it would be considered acceptable)? – Edwin Ashworth May 27 '19 at 12:42
  • @EdwinAshworth I had initially planned to make my middle paragraph's sentence a comment, then realized I was answering in comments and thought better of it. Would you prefer this were migrated to ELL? – tchrist May 27 '19 at 15:56
  • I don't think it's properly formulated. Does 'there' really matter? Wouldn't 'down in Devon/Florida' / 'down s/South' be equally relevant (which I'm pretty sure makes this a duplicate)? OP's examples lack context and are no help. // I feel uneasy about giving 'answers' in comments, but more uneasy about giving answers in 'answers' when I've also close-voted. I feel that adding an answer endorses the question's validity, so will send out mixed messages. – Edwin Ashworth May 27 '19 at 16:11
  • @EdwinAshworth There seems essential to me in some contexts. I would never say I ate the food down, but I ate the food down *there. (At least, not if I was talking about eating food at some place.) And the first two example sentences in the question seem ungrammatical to me without there*, while the third changes meaning without it. – Jason Bassford May 27 '19 at 20:18
  • @Jason Bassford 'there' is merely a placeholder for an antecedent. 'down in Texas / down in the lounge ...' would do equally as well. I fail to see that this question is valid here. / Asking 'why "down there" and not not "down in there" for "down in Texas"?' could be fair game, but this isn't what OP is asking, in my view. – Edwin Ashworth May 28 '19 at 16:43