up and down

[Gość: aldona]

Can you please explain the difference between "up here" and "down here" ("up there" and "down there" as well) when talking about places. It happened that the same area was addressed both ways. Is there any difference ? How do we know whether we live "up there" or "down there" ?
Kind regards
A.

[Gość: Steve]

I found this so confusing myself, that I only normally use the expressions when there is a clear geographical difference eg up here in the mountains, down there in the valley or in the sense that north is up and south is down (as on a map). People generally seem to expect the right use when one of these contexts is absolutely clear.

A town or city is also considered to be 'up' compared to its suburbs or surrounding countryside, with smaller towns being 'down' compared to large towns/cities. Even the view that one place is better quality than another can lead them to be described as 'up' and 'down'.

A place can therefore be both up and down depending on where it is being compared with and it normally doesn't matter what you say. Indeed, people will often get used to calling a place up or down even if it doesn't make sense in the conversation they are having, sometimes switching to a better description during the conversation. Finally, if one person is saying 'up', while the second says 'down' one or both may change their use.

[Gość: Aldona]

Many thanks. How does it work when it comes to phrase "it's down/up to you/me/him..etc" ?
A.

[Gość: Steve]

Like a glass of beer being half empty or half full, 'its down to you' is more
pessimistic than 'its up to you', but they normally mean the same thing.