“Just Like Downtown” Means Satisfactory or Excellent

Hi there. You have A Way with Words.

Hi, my name is Patrick. I’m calling you from Jacksonville Beach, Florida.

Hey, Patrick. Welcome to the show. What’s on your mind?

Well, I have this little saying that my paternal grandmother used to use. My dad used it. I use it. And I’ve even kind of passed it on to friends of mine. And I have no idea where this little quip comes from. So maybe you can help me out.

I remember as a kid, my grandmother, when something would work out really well, or perhaps something turned out exactly the way you wanted it to, she would say, that’s just like downtown. And I have come to use that little phrase. Even recently, I was helping a friend do some tiling in a bathroom, and there was one particular piece that was really kind of intricate and had to fit just right. And I got it cut just right, and it slid right in, and I said, just like downtown. And I have no idea where that phrase even comes from and what its original meaning is. So if you can clarify and help me, that would be great.

So are we to understand this means that everything went as you wanted it to? Things are going well. It’s as good as it can be.

That’s exactly the way I have always used it and interpreted it to mean, yeah. If something turns out perfectly the way you want it to, you say it’s just like downtown. It is a curious expression.

There’s another variant that Martha and I talked about on the show years ago, just like New York. And both of these expressions have to do with the way that theatrical advertising used to present itself, say, in newspapers or on bills, you know, paper bills pasted up on streets. And they used that line, just like downtown, as far back as the 1930s, as a kind of way of saying that you could see shows at the theaters in the hinterlands that weren’t downtown, but they would be just as good as the shows at the fancy theaters in the heart of the city where the action was. And it would literally have the phrase, just like downtown. So you wouldn’t have to drive in, say, to the Great White Way in New York City to see the show. You could see the same show, just like downtown, maybe in Westchester in New York or wherever. But it wasn’t only New York. It was used in the Midwest as well. But yeah, 1930s it shows up. And it’s just really the whole idea that downtown is where the excitement is.

Yeah. Well, my grandmother was from northern Iowa, which is nowhere near downtown anywhere. It’s just kind of rural out in the middle of nothing. So it’s starting to make sense now.

So, yeah. So I’m certainly – the way I use it and the way she used it, I think it’s certainly different from seeing a Broadway show or a big production. But it is kind of along the same lines. If something is what you expect it to be or, you know, really hits the big time, it’s just like downtown.

Yeah, yeah. It’s as good as it could be, right? It’s as good as the best possible case, which is obviously we all think about the, you know, you can see a show on tour, right? Whether it’s a musician or a theatrical production, but seeing it on Broadway is a whole different thing.

True that. Yeah, I know the difference. I do appreciate you clarifying that for me. I’m going to keep using it because it’s a fun little phrase, and I’ve even got some friends who’ve started using it, and it works when it applies properly.

Yep. Agreed. Absolutely. Thank you so much for your call, Patrick.

Cool. All right. Thank you so much. Take care of yourself. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.

Just like downtown or just like New York. Just like. It’s catchy, too. There’s a cadence to it. Just like downtown. I don’t know. It just makes it sound like, yep, I tiled that bathroom just like downtown.

Well, just like that, you can give us a call, 877-929-9673, to talk about language.