down the back

[Alexey86]

Hello! Would you please explain to me the meaning of down the back in each passage below? I'm also not sure whether down the back is an adverbial phrase of location/direction, or there are two separate units: the back modified by down.

1) https://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/13/fathers-day-extreme-edition/

"The inevitable question looms: what to get dad for Father’s Day? A tie, a bottle of Scotch, golf clubs, a sweater? Try again. T thinks the man deserves something manly this year. Something that involves water-fueled jetpacks, power tools or hard whiskey on a remote island in Scotland. Tell him you love him with a caffeinated coffee-making class. Make his day with a trip to Bernese Oberland, Switzerland, for a jump off a cliff (parachute and instructor included). Dad does so much. But can he handle 165 down the back straight away? This Father’s Day, it’s time to find out."

2) https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/apr/01/afl-2015-season-preview-part-three

"Does the surge this year come from improvements from Brandon Ellis? Ben Griffiths? Shaun Grigg? Tyrone Vickery? OK, stop laughing down the back. Anthony Miles was a firestarter in the Tigers’ nine-game streak last year, Dylan Grimes is fit and Nick Vlastuin looks a gem."

3) The New Yorker
"... "The Glass Essay" opens: I can hear little clicks inside my dream. Night drips its silver tap down the back. At 4 A.M. I wake. ..."

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

#1: If you look at the caption of photo #6, it's talking about driving on a race track. What the writer (who might not have an editor) meant was that dad can handle doing 165 miles per hour down straightaway (not straight away) at the far side (back) of the track.

Now I'll look at your link in #2. Stay tuned.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

#2: The article says some players of whatever they're playing "form a solid spine." So I'll bet "down the back" refers to the formation of the team lineup. But I don't know. Is there a jock in the house?

As for #3, there's not enough there for me to decipher the context. Maybe a dripping faucet at the back of the house is keeping the writer awake. Can you give us more of the quote?

Wish I could be more help. Sometimes native English speakers don't understand English, either.

 

[Alexey86]

#1: If you look at the caption of photo #6, it's talking about driving on a race track. What the writer (who might not have an editor) meant was that dad can handle doing 165 miles per hour down straightaway (not straight away) at the far side (back) of the track.

I still can't understand or visualize it in my mind. Would you please reword down straightaway?

 

[GoesStation]

I still can't understand or visualize it in my mind. Would you please reword down straightaway?

Charlie accidentally dropped an article. Can you see which one, and where it belongs?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Charlie accidentally dropped an article. Can you see which one, and where it belongs?

Oops! Yes, I did.

You can find straightaway in your dictionary.

(The word back tells you which straightaway.)

 

[Alexey86]

Charlie accidentally dropped an article. Can you see which one, and where it belongs?

Down the srtaightaway = at the far side (back) of the srtaightaway. Is it correct?

 

[Alexey86]

If I said, "There will be a bridge down the road," it would mean "There will be a bridge ahead."

What does down mean in down the back straightaway? It doesn't mean ahead, right?

 

[GoesStation]

Down the straightaway = at the far side (back) of the straightaway. Is that correct?

Yes.

 

[GoesStation]

What does down mean in down the back straightaway? It doesn't mean ahead, right?

Down can be an all-purpose directional term meaning, roughly, following.

 

[Alexey86]

Down can be an all-purpose directional term meaning, roughly, following.

Is it possible that the author dropped 'of':

Down the back of the sofa =

Down the back of the straightaway = the beginning of the straightaway/the back----x(down the back)-------->the end/the head

Is (it) that correct?

If it's possible to explain briefly, why is 'it' incorrect?

 

[GoesStation]

But can he handle 165 down the back straight away?

Is it possible that the author dropped 'of':

Down the back of the straightaway = the beginning of the straightaway/the back----x(down the back)-------->the end/the head

No. He's talking about the back straightaway, the one at the back of the course (whatever that might mean exactly). I've used "the back of" above. Does that help you see how the preposition affects the phrase's meaning?

Is (it) that correct?

If it's possible to explain briefly, why is 'it' incorrect?

This and that point at something — in this case, text that's nearby or at least a little further away. It has no sense of directionality. When you ask whether "it's" correct, the reader wonders "Is what correct? Some random idea?" When you specify "this", I know that you're asking about something nearby.

 

[Alexey86]

Does that help you see how the preposition affects the phrase's meaning?

'Of' changes 'back' from an adjective to a noun.

What do you think of the other two examples?

This and that point at something — in this case, text that's nearby or at least a little further away. It has no sense of directionality. When you ask whether "it's" correct, the reader wonders "Is what correct? Some random idea?" When you specify "this", I know that you're asking about something nearby.

I'll start a new thread about 'it' vs 'that'.

 

[GoesStation]

What do you think of the other two examples?

I have no idea what stop laughing down the back or the other one mean.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Down the srtaightaway = at the far side (back) of the srtaightaway. Is it correct?

Almost. Not the far side of the straightaway. The far straightaway. The one in back. Not the near straightaway that goes past the grandstand.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

If I said, "There will be a bridge down the road," it would mean "There will be a bridge ahead."

What does down mean in down the back straightaway? It doesn't mean ahead, right?

No. It's telling us which straightaway. The far one, in back. Not the near one.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Is it possible that the author dropped 'of':

Down the back of the sofa = View attachment 3500

No.

Down the back of the straightaway = the beginning of the straightaway/the back----x(down the back)-------->the end/the head

No. Not the back of the straightaway. The back straightaway. Which straightaway? The back straightaway. The adjective back tells us which straightaway he's talking about. That's where Dad can have fun driving 165 miles per hour on that entire straightaway — not just on one part of it.

If it's possible to explain briefly, why is 'it' incorrect?

I have to go find what it you're talking about. Hold on a second . . . .

Sorry, I couldn't find it. What it did we say was incorrect?