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In English, when speaking about going to the center of the town, it's a matter of going to the "downtown" so, my question is about the origins of the connotation of some "descent" (going down) - moreover, I noticed that the same phenomenon is present in many other languages...

KillingTime
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jihed gasmi
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1 Answers1

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The meaning of the terms are entirely within the context of city where it's used. Downtown, uptown, city center, market, the shopping district, government district, the rich part of town, north, etc. can all exist as separate locations within a city or be euphemisms for the same place. London and New York, in spite of themselves, do not have a monopoly on the meanings of these terms in English. In my town, the majority of shopping is done where two malls are located but this is the College district. Downtown is the area where the major shopping used to occur but is currently a poor neighbourhood where the government business is still done. In my town Downtown is a bad place where you don't want to caught in after 6pm. Its no longer the city center even, because of the continuous migration of people moving North, the "nicer part of town".

LuckyDay
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  • Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center. – Community Aug 22 '23 at 16:19
  • The question here is very specific: from where comes the connotation of descent in "downtown"? This doesn't answer that question. If you spend some time browsing this site you will see that what is posted as an answer on it is expected to answer the question directly. This site is not a discussion site, and the questions on it are not intended as openings for general conversations about their subject matter. – jsw29 Aug 22 '23 at 16:23