over three states

[azz]

a. We went over three states.
b. We travelled over three states.

Do these imply that we visited a lot of places in these states (we covered a lot of territory) or do they mean that we took a straight route and went down that route?


What does this sentence:mean?

c. We went three states over.



Many thanks.
Azz.

 

[emsr2d2]

Without knowing the full context, it's hard to say exactly what was meant. However, on its own merit, I would say that it simply means that during the course of a journey, the person crossed a state line into another state three times. There is no way of telling whether they stopped in that state, once, twice or many times or if they took a straight route but they travelled across three states.

"We went three states over" is, to me, a rather unnatural sentence. What is the context for that one?

 

[Amigos4]

a. We went over three states.
b. We travelled over three states.

Do these imply that we visited a lot of places in these states (we covered a lot of territory) or do they mean that we took a straight route and went down that route?


What does this sentence:mean?

c. We went three states over.



Many thanks.
Azz.

To me, statements 'a' and 'b' mean you flew over 3 states and never stopped for a visit! One travels 'through' (not over) a state if they want to see the sights while getting from one state to another state.

c. "We went three states over" is ambiguous and awkward for native AmE speakers. Are you traveling north, south, east, or west? Your statement doesn't let us know! A better example would be: "From California we drove through three states (Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas) before we arrived in Oklahoma."

 

[HanibalII]

c. We went three states over.



Many thanks.
Azz.

Moved in any direction by three states. Other common examples are:

'The garage sale is 3 houses down'.
'We went three houses down to the garage sale'

Similar sentence structure with the same meaning.

 

[emsr2d2]

Moved in any direction by three states. Other common examples are:

'The garage sale is 3 houses down'.
'We went three houses down to the garage sale'

Similar sentence structure with the same meaning.

That's what I would have guessed if I had to. For example, looking at a map of the USA and starting in Oregon on the west coast, if I went "three states over" (which to me means roughly from west to east), I would end up in Nebraska, South Dakota or North Dakota.

This is the map I used to come to that conclusion.

 

[Amigos4]

That's what I would have guessed if I had to. For example, looking at a map of the USA and starting in Oregon on the west coast, if I went "three states over" (which to me means roughly from west to east), I would end up in Nebraska, South Dakota or North Dakota.

This is the map I used to come to that conclusion.

Using the same map, "three states over" might also lead you to Colorado, Arizona, or New Mexico! Personally, I'd prefer to wind up in Colorado!!! ;-)

"Three states over" is so ambiguous! Instead of using 'over', why not use a specific direction such as 'east', 'northeast', or 'southeast'? "From Oregon, we traveled east through three states. It took us two days to reach Nebraska (or South Dakota)!"

Cheers,
A4