When someone says they’re going into “town”, what does that mean to you?

[Hairbrush123]

Having a debate with DH and wonder what this term means to other people? To me, it means going into the centre of the town I live in

London… if I was going to a local town I would name it

Going to the local town or going to Birmingham. It can be confusing. Mistakes have happened... Particularly with "meet you at the ramp in town".

At home, in a village, I'd mean going into the nearest big town with shops.

At work, I'd either mean going into the town centre or going up to London. Eg. "I'm popping into town at lunchtime, do you need anything from Boots?" vs "I can't make our Teams call on Wednesday, I'll be in town".

Where I grew up it meant the town high street (which wasn't the street called High Street!).

When I was in London it normally meant the local high street but could mean central London (though, as PP says, that's normally "Up" to town).

Where I am now it means the shopping district of the smaller city, not the bigger city (which is known as The City), even if you live in the bigger city.

i never say either.

i say "i'm going to big tescos"
or "i'm going to london"

but "i'm going into town" always makes me think of brief encounter and i wonder about people getting new library books and bumping into doctor harvey. (btw i love brief encounter)

I live in SE London, when I say that I mean central London.

Into town - shopping in the shit hole that is the city centre.

Up town - going drinking in the bars that are in the shit hole that is the city centre.

Here it means going into the city centre.

Town was always Manchester City centre when I lived in Greater Manchester. We called the local towns by their names - Rochdale, Oldham, Middleton, Chadderton, Ashton etc

I now live in the Midlands and I dont have a town, so I say im going to Solihull, Birmingham, Rugby, Coventry, Leam (Leamington Spa), Ken (Kenilworth), Warwick, Banbury or Bicester etc...

When I go home (haven't lived there since I was 18 mind), I still say going to town to mean Manchester....!

When i lived in a village (moved last year) going to the village meant town centre, going to town meant going to the big nearby town

Now ive moved to a very small town I haven’t worked out how to say it, because going to the village means going to the village i used to lived in and going to town still means the big town…not the small town i live in

I’m very confused…to make matters worse the village as a whole is bigger than the town i now live in

"into town" is my local city
"up to town" is going to London

As Londoner (moved out) from a long line of Londoners on my mum's side I stand by my late Mum's assertion that wherever you live in England, you travel UP to London!

I live in a small market town close to a city. To me it means going into the city.

@MySaladDaysAreGone

Isn’t t always ‘up to London’?!

It is

In Downton Abbey they go up to London from Ripon

and in most novels of the 1920s

A member of the aristocracy recently told me that he was going up to London that week (from Yorkshire). It made me smile as I say that and my DH says I am old fashioned but it was what my granny used to say.

It means going to our nearest city centre, eg Glasgow,

We live in a small town and would say going to the Main Street if we were going to the shops there.

@godmum56

"into town" is my local city "up to town" is going to London

As Londoner (moved out) from a long line of Londoners on my mum's side I stand by my late Mum's assertion that wherever you live in England, you travel UP to London!

She was right.

PS I lived in Wells at one time and there we used to say "going into the City"

@TheHoptimist

thank you. I miss her

Into town means the city centre here.

Going into town - going to city centre
Going to town - going a bit tonto about something.

I grew up in a very small town and we used to say we were “going down the street” as there really was only one street with shops. When I moved to a city for Uni, I asked my new flat mates if they fancied “going down the street” and they looked at me as if I was mad. I felt a right country bumpkin!

Into town - shopping
Down town - going out for the night

I live on the outskirts of a city and I would use it to mean going into the city centre.

"Up" to London is the convention used in railways.
For me it's going into the city centre from a suburb, or into any town type place from a village. I think you have to be inside it's commuter belt to call London "town".

Where I grew up (Central Scotland), we always went “up the town” (not up TO town, up THE town). But that was because the town centre was uphill from where we lived.

And if we went to a nearby big city we went “through to Glasgow/Edinburgh”.

I live in London and for me it would mean central London. So say I live in Hammersmith as an example, it wouldn't mean going to the shopping centre in Hammersmith, but central London.

@2pinkginsplease

It means going to our nearest city centre, eg Glasgow,

We live in a small town and would say going to the Main Street if we were going to the shops there.

This.

For me town means Glasgow city centre even though there are closer towns (Hamilton and East Kilbride)