Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2016 April 4

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April 4[edit]

non-opposed directional dichotomy[edit]

Silly and frivolous:

The surviving Germanic languages comprise North Germanic and West Germanic. What other entities are divided into North and West, or West and South, or South and East, or East and North, without either an opposite or a middle? —Tamfang (talk) 07:21, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Not quite what you're looking for but Northwest Airlines. Southwest Airlines. No Northeast Airlines or Southeast Airlines. Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia. No state or territory named East(ern). Midwest US, No Mideast US. Middle Eastern countries. No Middle Western Countries. Far East but no Far West. Near East but no Near West. Northwest Territories, Canada but Northeast is called Nunavut. Upper East Side and Upper West Side and Lower East Side but no Lower West Side (people try to market their apartments as Lower West Side and say it's a microscopic neighborhood that's as lower western as you can get but that's just ridiculous, there is a big river where the Lower West Side would be) Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 07:51, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
They're not a divided entity, but the Great North Road and the Great West Road come immediately to mind - the UK has never had a "Great East Road" or "Great South Road", only the Dover Road and Portsmouth Road. Tevildo (talk) 08:01, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  • Tevildo gets the prize as first to comply with the conditions of the question. —Tamfang (talk) 08:32, 5 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  • London has South Hampstead and West Hampstead, but no East Hampstead or North Hampstead (although depending how you measure, there is also a "village" of Hampstead in the middle). Also, Yorkshire has undergone a lot of restructurings. Traditionally, it was divided into North, East and West Ridings; with the change in population during the 20th century, it became more useful to divide it into North, South and West Yorkshire, with the East Riding becoming part of the ill-fated Humberside. This means that only North and West Yorkshire have had a continued existence (nowadays, all four Yorkshires exist, but only East Riding is still called a riding). Another British county example is Essex (East Saxons) and Sussex (South Saxons). Wessex and Middlesex disappeared long ago (despite the efforts of the modern day Wessex Regionalist Party) and there was never a Norsex. (Also, while not exactly what you're looking for, there are the US states of West Virginia and Virginia (whose westernmost tip is further west than any point in West Virginia) – Virginia didn't change its name when West Virginia seceded, but "South Virginia" would probably be the most accurate name for it.) Smurrayinchester 10:18, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
More boringly, quite a few British parliamentary constituencies are named like this (such as Wirral West and Wirral South). Still, Durham is pretty funny, because it's represented by North Durham and North West Durham but no other compass direction (although there is a City of Durham too). Smurrayinchester 14:41, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
An observation on Wessex (by one who lives in it). While of course the Heptarchy is long past (unless it's revived as the basis for English regional governments, as I advocate), the entity of Wessex is still very much alive in terms of numerous Quangos and commercial company names, as a web search on it will reveal, and I'm confident that many people would readily answer "Yes" if asked whether they live in it. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 185.74.232.130 (talk) 13:15, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, mentioning the Heptarchy has reminded me of a good one: the Brythonic lands (Cornwall and Wales) were at the time of the Heptarchy called West Wales and North Wales respectively. See this map for an example. Smurrayinchester 14:47, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  • US place names are of course often derived from the British originals, rather then their geographical locations, as the originals were. I'm unsure how relevant they are to the OP. 131.251.254.154 (talk) 14:28, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
You do get pairs of villages which fit that pattern. Near here (Norfolk, England) there are North Tuddenham and East Tuddenham. I doubt that is the only such example - but don't have time to go through the gazetteer. 217.44.50.87 (talk) 13:07, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  • Perfect. I'd also accept East Bogborough and Nether Bogborough, if there's no West Bogborough, Upper Bogborough or unadorned Bogborough. —Tamfang (talk) 08:32, 5 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Detroit has no south side [1], despite the lyrics to Don't stop believing. It does seem to have an east and west side, as well as a north end, so it might not fit your criteria. SemanticMantis (talk) 14:45, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Maybe they were really from Windsor, Ontario, which I'm pretty sure might qualify as South Detroit... --Jayron32 15:06, 4 April 2016 (UTC) [citation needed][reply]
No, people in Windsor wouldn't consider it South Detroit, any more than people in northern New Jersey consider themselves to be in South New York City.
While not called "South Detroit", the Downriver area is south of Detroit. StuRat (talk) 15:37, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
I live Detroit metro area...there are three terms used for Detroit..."the eastside" "the westside" and "southwest Detroit"...the last one is where Mexicantown is....the term "south Detroit" is literally never used and doesn't exist but for that song...the band has stated that they just made it up because it sounded good to them...68.48.241.158 (talk) 15:39, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
there's no "north end" either and that term is not in circulation..just looked at the "neighborhoods in Detroit" article...shows a "north end" I've never heard this term used...it's part of an area that hipsters have been moving to over the past ten years or so...perhaps they've started calling it this amongst themselves idk....68.48.241.158 (talk) 15:43, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Yes I only put in the mention to north end because I saw our article North_End,_Detroit, which has a few references for use of that terminology. SemanticMantis (talk) 19:07, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
There's also no Eastside of Chicago which is similar to where South Detroit would be if it existed... In a lake. Chicago does have a North, South, and West side though. There is also a Northeast Kingdom in Vermont but there are no other directional kingdoms. Dismas|(talk) 15:54, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
East Side, Chicago does exist. It's a microscopic zone that's neither big nor east enough to be a side. Which is why its as obscure as the Lower West Side of Manhattan so you don't think the East Side exists. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 20:11, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
@Sagittarian Milky Way: Okay, yes. There is one small community. And this might be a semantic argument but the South Side, North Side, and West Side comprise many such communities. They are larger areas and not little more than a neighborhood. Dismas|(talk) 22:48, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Don't worry, I consider it a BS side too. Kind of like Northwest Cleveland (I made that one up). Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 00:10, 5 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
There is also East Chicago, Indiana. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 20:38, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
North Philadelphia, South Philadelphia, West Philadelphia, but no East Philadelphia (which redirects to Northeast Philadelphia). Also Northeast Philadelphia, Northwest Philadelphia, Southwest Philadelphia, but no Southeast Philadelphia (which redirects to South Philadelphia). Loraof (talk) 16:12, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
East Philadelphia is Camden. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 20:11, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Suburbs of Vancouver include North Vancouver and West Vancouver; there is no East Vancouver or South Vancuover, and incidentally, West Vancouver is west or northwest of North Vancouver (depending on which North Vancouver you mean), not west of Vancouver. Federal electoral districts ("ridings") in Toronto include Scarborough North and Scarborough Southwest but no other compass points in relation to Scarborough. --69.159.61.172 (talk) 20:15, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

We do have an article called East Vancouver, though it's not a common term (vs Eastside or Downtown Eastside). Clarityfiend (talk) 22:39, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Not far from where I live in Victoria (Australia) is a point on the map called Maffra West Upper, previously known as Upper Maffra West (surely an important and significant name change). There is a Maffra (I'm a proud Maffradite), but no North, South, East, Lower or any other combinations thereof. NSW has a West Wyalong - but west of where, I hear you ask? There is a Wyalong, but it's only a quarter the size of West W. -- Jack of Oz [pleasantries] 23:15, 4 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
And in California, Covina is smaller than West Covina. —Tamfang (talk) 08:32, 5 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
On Long Island, there is an East Northport, New York, which is exactly due south of Northport, New York. There are no other <compass>-ports, or -Northports on Long Island. Just Northport and East Northport. The two have a merged school district known as the Northport-East Northport Union Free School District. --Jayron32 01:41, 5 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
There is Orange, New Jersey, which has West, South and East Orange, but no North Orange that I can find. Those towns play into this oldie: What rhymes with orange? East Orange. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 04:15, 5 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  • By "without an opposite" I meant I'm not looking for East, West and South but no North. By "without a middle" I meant I'm not looking for X and North X (or any superset). Not that saying so more explicitly would have stopped anyone. —Tamfang (talk) 08:32, 5 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Well, they could always market themselves as South of Canada. Clarityfiend (talk) 06:42, 7 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
The Hamptons -- East Hampton and Southampton, New York. Loraof (talk) 14:48, 5 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Middlesex County, New Jersey
  • Consider the "Hub City" of Brumfiss in Middlesex County, NJ. South of which is North Brunswick, although East Brunswick reaches further North, and then there's the westernmost town; South Brunswick. (Brumfiss is hard to see, it's the city on the Raritan River south of Piscataway.) μηδείς (talk) 17:02, 6 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
    Nashua North High School lies to the south of Nashua South High School. --Jayron32 17:17, 7 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]