Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT 2036 - 2040, Oct 17th - 21st 2011
TinPenguin:
--- Quote from: gangler on 19 Oct 2011, 11:15 ---I suppose the phrase that would substitute "Heading to The City" or "Going up to town" over here would be "Heading North". We all know what that means.
--- End quote ---
Out of curiosity, where is "over here" for you?
I've lived in many different parts of England, and rarely have people referred to the nearest big settlement as 'The City', though to be fair most of the places I've lived were the nearest big settlement. When people talk of "going to the town", they mean the town centre (interestingly, this is the case even in cities, probably a relic of when they were lots of small towns that have since been swallowed up). The only place I've heard people talk of 'the city' was when I lived in the suburbs of London, though most often it was known as 'Central London', or just 'London'. The very centre, the historical "City of London" is indeed known as "The City", but not really colloquially, only among twatty businessmen.
All that aside, however, I agree with Interlude's assessment.
gangler:
Ontario. What with how the population's spread aside from Toronto there's very little to be found by going north, so the phrase is generally pretty self-explanatory even if you haven't encountered it before.
DSL:
My understanding of the New York version of "The City" is the non-Harlem part of Manhattan Island, and is a name used ONLY by people who want you to know they are from the non-Harlem part of Manhattan Island. All other New Yorkers of my acquaintance say they're from New York -- though the one or two Brooklynites I know will tell you they're from Brooklyn if it comes up in conversation.
In my part of Ohio, at least, "town" or "into town" simply means the nearest incorporated agglomeration of structures, or the center part thereof. As in,"I'm going into town. Need anything?"
Residents of the suburbs of Ohio's big cities simply tell people from other parts of the state they're from that city, because it's simpler.That's been my experience, anyway.
iduguphergrave:
That's completely right. I live in one of the suburbs outside of Columbus but I usually just tell people I'm from Columbus. It's 10 minutes away anyway and I know the majority of the world hasn't even heard of the suburb I'm from. When someone has to go into the city proper usually I heard them refer to it as "going downtown."
Also, that's at least three people on this forum who are from/live in Ohio. What are the odds?
Kugai:
It's all a matter of perspective and scale.
BTW, nice catch there by the customer.
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