> Do US streets have the cardinal directions on the roadsigns, or are you all issued with built-in compasses at birth? A lot of cities have somewhat gridlike s

> Do US streets have the cardinal directions on the roadsigns, or are you all issued with built-in compasses at birth? A lot of cities have somewhat gridlike street patterns, and those are often roughly oriented to the cardinal directions, so in those places, people will use them that way. (This is especially true in cities that are relatively flat and were mostly settled by colonists after the mid-19th century. Look at a map of Pierre, SD, Denver, CO, or Wichita, KS.) Even when it's not north-south, people will still do this. In Manhattan, for example, the streets are actually offset by 29°, but people will still say "east" or "west" to mean "towards the Hudson/East River", respectively. But also, the dialogue in cop dramas is always going to be forced and artificial, so I wouldn't read too much into that anyway.