A playwright from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, wonders if anyone outside her home region says they’re going down the shore to mean they’re “going to the beach.” Go down the shore is often used in Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and parts of Delaware. In Newfoundland and Labrador, going down the shore is also used but means traveling along the coast rather than swimming or sunbathing. Maryland has its own variant, going down the ocean, which often comes out sounding like “downy ocean.” Why does go down the shore appear particular to Eastern cities? Those areas have had longer to develop local speech patterns, and local pride then reinforces the habit. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Regional Beach Phrases: “Down the Shore,” “Down the Ocean,” and “Downy Ocean””
Hi there.
You have A Way with Words.
Actually, I have a very good way with words.
My name is Fraga Thomas.
I am a born and raised Philadelphian, and I’m a playwright.
So I have lots of words.
Oh my goodness.
Yes.
Well, what words are on your mind today?
The three words that I called in about are down the shore, which is a strange way of getting to the beach.
The Philadelphians and Eastern Pennsylvanians, anybody who goes to the beach in Jersey, Pennsylvania, and a little bit of Delaware, We don’t go to the beach.
We go down the shore.
Mhmm.
And I discovered that this is not…
It’s not really a silly…
It’s not really a nationwide thing, and we have so much coastline.
And what I was curious about was, does anybody else in the country go down the shore before they go to the beach?
And I think No.
They they don’t, Freida.
They absolutely don’t.
There’s nobody else in The United States except for the part of the country that you name.
So that’s Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, parts of Delaware, people are more likely to say down the shore, meaning go to the beach.
But let me ask you for some clarification.
Because it’s not clear in the reference works that talk about this.
When you say, go to the beach, do you mean to the beach towns or actually to the sand and water?
Or both?
What I mean is is your final destination to town?
Are you actually gonna go get your feet wet?
A friend of mine said, well, the conversation for him usually goes like this.
I’m going down the shore this weekend.
Oh, what beach are you going to?
Because everybody has their own beach.
Yeah.
So it…
It’s really more about the shore region of that part of the country than it is specifically to the sand and water.
Is that what I’m thinking about?
But then my friend Sydney said, well, before you can go to the beach, you do have to go down the shore and change your clothes and get into your bathing tooth and carry the chair and the umbrella walk.
Stuck up on cold drinks.
So there’s a…
And I discovered this.
I didn’t even know that it wasn’t a nationwide…
No.
It is.
I will say there is a little bit of Canada that uses something similar, but of course they don’t mean go to the shore.
When they say down the shore in Newfoundland and Labrador, they don’t mean, of course, New Jersey or, you know, any of the beaches near there.
Oh, no.
They’re talking about…
But they do say down the shore according to my reference works in part of…
In in Newfoundland and labyrinth part of…
No.
Heather.
But they’re referring to their own coastal area.
They’re literally talking about, like, going along the coast rather than literally going to the beach and swimming or sunbathing.
In Maryland, they go down the ocean.
Down the ocean.
Down down?
Sounds like…
Down Down the ocean.
The y?
Yes.
It sounds like Downy.
But…
They’re going down the ocean.
But Frida, the explanation is two things.
One is the Eastern part of the country, especially the big cities, have been around a lot longer than the rest of the country.
So they’ve had a chance to develop their own regional variations.
And then once they develop, there’s a fierce local pride in the way that people talk.
They kind of start to recognize, oh, this is what we say here, and then they just say it more.
And so kind of is a self reinforcing loop of the thing we say is the thing we say.
So down the shores is one of many examples of that where people kinda know, oh, if I if I live here, this is what I say, you know, and I’m gonna I’m gonna fit in and say this.
But Freida, I wanna say thank you so much for spending some time with us today.
Really appreciate it.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
Bye.
Have a wonderful day.
You too.
Take care.
Bye-bye.
Toll free in The US and Canada.
