To be thick enough to as what people mean by working

[clinkers]

"in the city" ?

ask that is

Depends on where you live. Most likely it refers to whatever big city you live closest to.

I take working "in the city" to be bank or legal or stocks or something of that nature.

I also think it's often used as poncy, lookie-down-on-the-plebs talk "Oh, I work in The City, don't you know."

I only ask due to the careers/how mch pay thread. A few (quite a few) mentioned they have/had "a job in the city".

They tend to mean financial, big business etc.

here

Ah, thanks Hecate. For all In knew, "in the city" could have been behind the juice bar counter in any old city

I think it is called a metonyn, where a part of something stands in for the whole (ie using "the Crown" to mean "the monarch"). In this case the City is the old City of London, a square mile area where a number of financial institutions are based, so it is used to represent financial services as a whole.

Americans use "Wall Street" for the same purpose.

"The City" usually refers to "the square mile" and means jobs like investment banking, trading, the stock Market, Lloyds of London etc. It may also mean legal firms as well.

It's secret code for 'I'm an arsehole' .

I am obviously not from the UK.

Where I come from, the US, 'the city' refers to any large metropolis area near the speaker. And not to what kind of job they have.

So ignore what I said, OP!

I thought it meant the square mile too. Greater london incorporates loads od villages and small towns that have been swallowed up too. Which is why you get people who live in London talking about going into the village

I work in the city...meaning i work in the Square Mile in London, where mostly investment banks and financial institutions are based. Hecate- I dont say it as a poncy way of looking down on "plebs" though...in London it is pretty standard as a way of saying what you do without being specific!

It means working in financial services in London in some capacity.

:o @worzsel

WorzselMummage Tue 01-Mar-11 08:16:10
It's secret code for 'I'm an arsehole' .

Im not from the UK either Tee. I didnt realise that the city was only london

My DH works "in the city" he is neither an arsehole or looks down on people.

Yy yto the above. If you weant to say you work in London but NOT in financial services you might say 'I work in town'. I love saying that, sounds so Austen-ish.

If you live near Liverpool and you say 'I'm going into the city today' you most likely are going into Liverpool to do some shopping or go to the bank.

If you live near London (or you haven't specified) and you say 'I work in the City' you mean that you work in financial/legal stuff in a particular area of London.

that was odd. I didn't realise I'd posted that.

I was going to or something I think.

The City isn't only London - it is Financial Services in London. I work in the city (which happens to be London) but not in the City.

I've said city to many time now ans it's started to sound odd.

City, city, city, city, city, city, city.

When people from near Liverpool go into Liverpool, they DO NOT say "the city".

They say they are going "into town", even though Liverpool has not been a town since the war (when the original cathedral was bombed out).

It now has two cathedrals and is therefore a city twice over, but you will still never find anyone calling it anything other than "town". You're just pretending to be a Scouser, aren't you

I didnt realise that the city was only london

Oh we have loads of cities, but The City refers to the Square Mile when talking about work.

That's true. I live inbetween manchester and sheffield.

I say "going to manchester" I say "going to sheffield", if I'm going into Chesterfield, I say "going into town". Talking of The City = London to me.

Oh bravo Bluegrass, I like you. I was going to say it's metonymic. Using a part to stand for a whole.

I have a friend whose dad worked 'under the iron curtain' when she was growing up and when he left to go to work on a Monday, she thought it was literally an iron curtain he had to crawl under...