[OT] G4 goes West

[Mike Bonner]

My guess as to the americanized meaning of "gone west" is from the
colonial days. Actually had 2 connotations.  First connotation was
that to the west (unexplored areas) was a land of opportunity.  "Head
west young man" meant, go and seek your fortune.  Due to the same
usage it also had a negative connotation.  Since a young man heading
west would most likely never been seen again by his family, the family
left behind in the east when asked "what happened to that son of
yours" would reply.. Hes gone west. Implying never to be seen again,
current fate unknown, but still with implicit hope for the success of
the missing family member.

Read somewhere that much ealier going west was equated with death and dying.

Gone south has a few things adding to it's negative connotations.
During the civil war, anything in the south (by the north) was viewed
as being a bad thing. Northerners who believed in the views of the
south and must be of lower intelligence.  There is also a theory (that
I also read somewhere I can't remember) that it has to do with General
Sherman headig south to the burning of Atlanta.

In addition, outlaws trying to escape justice would head towards
mexico, they also "went south" Then add on to this that maps show
north as up south as down, up being equated with more, down with
less.. (look at stock charts. Up is good, down is bad) and you get
quite a lot of weight in the "south is bad' bag of tricks.



On Fri, Jul 9, 2010 at 9:12 AM, Colin Holgate <coiin at verizon.net> wrote:
> I hadn't seen anyone use the expression "going west" before, so I just took it to mean "going south", with some misdirection (as it were) for the sake of humor. _______________________________________________
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