How do I go back east if I've never been to the east? It does not make sense to return to a place you've never been.
Word Usage – What Does ‘Back East’ Mean?
meaning-in-contextword-usage
meaning-in-contextword-usage
How do I go back east if I've never been to the east? It does not make sense to return to a place you've never been.
Best Answer
In American English, we sometimes say up north, down south, out west, and back east when referring to directions. The words up, down, out, and back do not have any special meaning in this context, but are often used as a matter of convention. Additionally, the Eastern United States is sometimes referred to as back east.
According to this Ngram, it appears that this usage became more common in the latter half of the 19th century, began to decline between 1940 and 1970, and then became more widely used than before: