To wonder why people increasingly refer to places not in London as 'in London'

[redpipe]

I genuinely don't understand why people say they live in London when in fact they live in a town within the M25.
Croydon is not in London is it? Nor is Kingston. I never remember people referring to these towns as London years ago. Is this a new thing?

Vivalebeaver they could always say the county they actually live in rather than one they don't though.

I go by postcode....

I'm with Maenad on this one - I'm from just outside the valleys originally... but I suspect a "Londoner" with limited knowledge of South Wales would think I was either from "The Valleys" or Cardiff.

DH is from Kingston-upon-Thames, DM is from Selsdon. They're both v that I consider both these places to be "in London". DAunt now lives in Billericay. This is "just outside London" in my mind - it must be, because we used to go stay with them if we wanted to do a day trip into London-proper to go sight-seeing.

Bromley etc are only in Kent when one is trying to flog ones semi.

In light of the shortage of housing and more and more people being pushed out of London I wonder if London will be extended again. Maybe in a few years everyone south of Manchester could be part of London?

Sleepingdragon is right. Croydon is part of london.

How can a 'London Borough' not be 'in London'?
That makes no sense to me
(as a northerner who lives in County Durham, but not in Durham :o)

Because they are in Surrey.

stealthPolarbear when it's in surrey?

No tube to Croydon, isn't that odd.

As far as I am concerned anyone inside the M25 is a cockney

You'd be wrong then!

A cockney is someone born 'within the sound of the Bow bells' Bow which is in east London.

Never insult a SE Londonder by calling them a cockney

Middlesex doesn't exist any more, as the London boroughs allowed to be London boroughs? They are not all N, S, E, W postcodes.

They have trams too!

Bromley isn't that near Croydon is it?

Have they done the Whitgift Centre up in Croydon yet?

I sometimes say London, particularly if I don't think the person I'm speaking to will know where I mean if I say the local town names. I'm within the M25, tube zone 5, London Borough etc. but not a London postcode.......but no Kent/Surrey in address either just 'Middlesex'

Is Northolt London now? It was Middlesex when I lived there (contradicts self!)

AmberLeaf - agreed...DH is NOT a cockney

Even though he sounds like one and uses rhyming slang all the time. Although SE slang is different to true cockney.

My Granddad was a proper cockney.

When I lived in London anywhere outside Zone 3 was not London.
Now I live miles away, anywhere within the M25 is London. Odd thinking really.

Some Surrey villages are turning into London Boroughs now, at least that's how it feels, I think it's sad. Even the accents are changing.

Well yes I get that. But how can a London Borough overlap a county. In fact that's fairly important in my work - I do actually need to know. We present information for the LB of Croydon and for Surrey - are you telling me there's an overlap?

I can see it now London expanding to Watford to the North and Romford to the East including Guildford and Maidstone.

Or maybe we don't include Croydon...will check

I'm from North of the Watford Gap - if it's got a tube station, it's London

Middlesex exists as a postal address. For places in Surrey county and some London boroughs.