On Thu, Apr 1, 2010 at 23:21, Thaths <[email protected]> wrote: > On Thu, Apr 1, 2010 at 7:10 PM, Andre Uratsuka Manoel > <[email protected]> wrote: > > I think the article was making the point that people thought that > going North was tougher because they unconsciously equated it, in > their heads, with going "up" against gravity. That is different from > equating North/South with quantities or levels of economic > development. > > Thaths
It's just that there are many expressions, like "going south", that don't exist here. I think there simply isn't such a strong association with up and down. Our maps have north on the top, of course, but the first few times I read that expression I didn't immediately understand. Also, the richest part of Brazil is the south. On the poor northeast, to "go south" is to go to a richer place, not go down. That's why I wonder if that's an association that may come, in part, from language, or maybe it's not the language, it is that the association is strong and so it is reflects in the vernacular, too. Andre
