to wish people would stop saying 'The North'

[Lludmilla]

...like it's all one great big homogenous lump of land.

This irritates me at the best of times, but the recent Covid scapegoating has made it worse. Newsflash: Covid rates actually VARY in what people are referring to as 'The North'. Just like poverty rates, crime rates, unemployment rates, everything really. Who'd have thought it?

I've spent my life in various places, mainly around the north-west and the east Midlands, and I don't have all the southern counties lumped together in my mind as one big mass called 'The South'.

Am I alone in feeling that some (note I said SOME) of those who use the term 'The North' are exhibiting unconscious ignorance/bias?

I’m always amazed by how far south ‘the north’ actually begins! I live in Edinburgh and from here it seems like most of England is ‘THE NORTH’. So yanbu in my opinion.

Last week I saw a poster on here blaming the new restrictions on "Northerners who can't follow the rules" so you're not wrong about the covid scapegoating going on.

I also agree that the "The North" is not one homogeneous mass and for many of us what is considered by others to be "The North" is in fact South. For my particular slice of "The North", I consider "The North" to be Scotland because that's the only thing North of me.

I think it depends on context. On the subject of covid and restrictions it's completely unhelpful.

But. But... The A1 goes to The North.

I’m always amazed by how far south ‘the north’ actually begins!

This!

To be fair (and I'm a northerner transplanted to the south east) northerners refer to 'the south' and 'southerners' just as much, in my experience.

I agree! There's a real North/South thing going on in the press at the moment which is really unhelpful and ridiculous. Different areas of the country will have prevalence of the virus at different times.

What do you do for the south then? I always think south west, south east and London but sometimes the south east includes London. They are still massive areas but a bit more defined. I am very south. London is well over an hour north of here.

The north

I think we refer to “the south”/ “southerners” just as much but it is relative. I remember when visiting London for uni (I’m from Manchester) a girl said she was northern like me.... she was from Peterborough. Lol. I mean it is north of London I guess 🤔

I agree. I'm in Somerset and get very tired of bing in the 'south'. London to Lands End is almost 300 miles and hugely different but still defined as 'the south'.

It's a bit 'Game of Thrones' isn't it 😄

I’m always amazed by how far south ‘the north’ actually begins!
This
Years of having UK team meetings in Birmingham because it’s in the middle of the country
(There also used to be a weather forecast broadcast in England that showed the sea north of the border )

i'm a southerner born and bred, living up north ? that would be london and above for me

Well. If we got rid of “the north” could we also get rid of the “all of London is a dangerous and expensive piece of shit” lot too?

Plenty of people also say "The South" and I'd say that varies even more than the North. And everyone forgets there is a huge bit in the middle helpfully labelled The Midlands.
So yes, you're being u and p

But that's literally what the sign says...

I'm from the north and now live in the south west and do get frustrated when people talk about any southerners benefiting from politics being London centric, believe me we don't over here!!

I used to live in the midlands and the northerners thought we were in the south and the southerners thought we were in the north!

Native New Yorkers are famous for this attitude. If you can't get there by tube it's out in the wilderness and beyond civilization.

North starts at the Watford Gap. Gavel.

I rarely hear people referring to 'The North' and 'The South' , it's never that polite ! It's usually a mimic of the accents 'Oop North' and 'Darn Sarf'. It's just the way people are.

The North starts once you are beyond Dundee.

The South is anywhere South of the Scottish Borders.

Anything south of Yorkshire but north of Watford is "midlands" to me. No capital letter, I know what The Midlands actually is 🤣

The North starts from Regents Park

The West Country starts from Richmond