our neighbor down the street [=our neighbor who lives farther down on our street]

[sunsunmoon]

Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary
▪ our neighbor down the street [=our neighbor who lives farther down on our street]


I know what the word "farther" means, but I'm wondering what the neighbor lives farther than?

 

[Rover_KE]

Farther down the street than you.

Rover

 

[sunsunmoon]

Farther down the street than you.

Rover

Are you just kidding? Why me?

 

[Rover_KE]

Are you just kidding? Why me?

. . .because you are talking about your neighbour.

 

[sunsunmoon]

Please look at the attached image. Let's say that the yellow spot shows where Mr. Yellow lives, and that the green spot shows where Mr. Green lives.

Does Mr. Yellow live down the street from Mr. Green?

 

[Barb_D]

That looks like a matter of a many, many blocks. I wouldn't say "My neighbor down the street" for that.


Lets say you have the main road. Then you have your neighborhood street coming off the main road. The families in order are A, B, C, D, and E.

B, C, D, and E live down the street from A.
C, D, and E live down the street from B.
D and E live down the street from C.

If C and D are talking about E, they may say "You know, the Es. They live down the street." If they are talking about A, they may say "The As -- you know, the folks up the street."

There is often no clear "up" or "down": it can go either way. C might say that A and B live down the street and E and F are up the street.

 

[allenman]

We tend to say "down the road" when the person is not on the same street but is somewhat nearby. We say "down the street" when they are very close. This is definitely idiomatic but that is how it is interpreted where I live

Not a teacher