walking down the street

[golukhanna]

I have read in stories the sentence _'He was walking down the street' _walking down refers to walking towards the end of the street ? Am I right? Is there any other way to put this meaning into a sentence?
In plain areas we won't walk down the street !
I want to know the usage of 'down' like in the sentence above.

 

[masuas]

I believe is a type of geometrical association of someone walking towards you, as in a line that is perpendicular and you are at the base of it, therefore comes down to you. Up the street means in the other direction, away from the base, up the perpendicular line, which if you put it flat on the ground, makes more sense, at least that is my interpretation: down towards where I am and up away from me. Even if somebody says is related to north and south, it'll still be up and down.
Greetings

 

[Barb_D]

Just think of it as "along" the road. It doesn't really imply any direction.

 

[Ouisch]

As Barb said, usually walking "down" the street means the same thing as walking "along" the street. Occasionally, it may indicate a direction; for example, if you live on a street that runs north/south and someone asked you "Have you seen John? Which way did he go?" you might reply "I saw him walking down the street about 20 minutes ago" (meaning he was headed south) or "I saw him walking up the street about 20 minutes ago" (meaning he was going north). But as a general rule, "down" the street is always understood as walking along a street.

 

[SoothingDave]

I agree that it doesn't in general imply a direction. Unless, of course, the street is on a hill.