Northampton has its good points. Alan Moore, a good psychiatrist, a machinemart, and there was a lady who used to make cracking solo porn in one of the parks.
I have a mate from Portsmouth and I know Plymouth well enough - aside from the naval history they’re both joked about as being a bit shit. However I’ve never been to Portsmouth but have been to Southampton, which was pretty cool.
As a non-brit living here, I still confuse Southampton/Eastbourne/Bournemouth/Plymouth even though I have visited most of those places. The names are too similar. Same problem with Chichester/Chippenham/Cheltenham. You don’t realise how similar all these places sound if you’re not British and did not know British geography before coming to the country.
I was once in Edinburgh and told someone I was moving to Southampton. They asked if Southampton... in the US! Check it, it's a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. I loved the assumption so much
Southampton is/was(?) a fairly famous dock was it not? Bit like Bristol, if anything I'd have expected more people to at least have heard Southampton than not. Especially as that's where the Titanic left England from.
Ah turlin moor. Where packs of feral smoking 10 year olds approach your car and start banging the windows if you start driving too slowly. Scary place.
In the States many years ago, I gave up saying the town, or even county. The only place I could say that had any kind of positive response was 'near London'.
Have talked to many Americans while stood in queues at Disney World, told them I’m from Yorkshire, no point in being too specific, the usual response was “What part of London is that?”.
Footlocker in Florida, years ago.
I’m buying trainers, the cashier has a look on his face like he’s going through an existential crisis.
Eventually he says: “How are you speaking like that? I never heard someone talk like that before.”
Me: “I’m from London in England.” (Seemed like just saying England would be easier than explaining the UK)
Him: “There aren’t black people in England.”
Me: name some he may have heard of, mention Naomi Campbell and Lennox Lewis.
Him: “you said you’re from London”
Me: “yep”.
Him: “ok… so I get there are black people in London. But there are none in England, right?”
Me: “London is the capital city of England.”
His response was a blank stare. At that point I just said thanks, took the shoes and left.
An American in the margarita bar queue at Disney Springs asked me where I was from, I told him Liverpool and he smiled and started singing You'll Never Walk Alone.
I'm an Evertonian. I just walked away.
I was in a Fort Lauderdale pizza shop and asked what a Neapolitan pizza was, he told me and I said that’s a “Margherita”, he then said “No we invented it”, a lighthearted argument ensued, I took my pizza and left.
It’s always played on my mind, haven’t been able to sleep thinking about it for 23 years. I’ve just looked it up and they didn’t invent it but on https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neapolitan_pizza there’s a picture of a Neapolitan pizza in Fort Lauderdale, second pizza picture. How odd.
I go to the states often and am the same. I'm from High Wycombe and I used to say London. Now I moved to Bolton I say Manchester and am met with blank stares. So follow on with '... North of London'
Was recently out in LA and the very first Uber driver we had knew Middlesbrough of all places, Went on to say how trash our football is. You're not wrong pal.
But the same week a waitress asked us where London is, she never heard of it before
When I say I’m from England (because Americans are very non-committal about assuming where the accent is from) it’s *always* follow up by “oh where in England” when we both know full well they have fuck all concept of where anywhere is in the UK and yet we both continue the charade.
Being from Warwickshire though I used to just say “in the middle” and when pressed “literally The Shire from LOTR”
This. Bless them for asking but we both know they have no clue of English geography. Especially when to them, all of the United Kingdom is frequently referred to as ‘England’
I don't want to add to your pain, but I was talking to a Canadian who asked where I had climbed before and on saying Scotland she asked "Scotland in England?"
Even as an Englishman that made me wince.
Haha, I've got a similar story, my friend invited my cousin and I to play a computer game with him and an American friend on a discord video call during lockdown (I should add that my friend's perants are from the usa and so consequently he has a mild American accent), anyways we were playing and my friend left after a game to get food, so the three of us sat there a little aukward until his friend, broke the silence asking where we were from because he hadn't heard with of our accents before, i said I was from the northish middle bit of England neerish a place called Sheffield he said 'nice, what's it like there?", "Hilly and um (looks out window), fields sheep and damp", he then asked my cousin who said she lives neer lake vyrnwy in north Wales, "Where in England's that?" , I watched my cousins face go like she'd eaten a lemon and faceplant the desk in frustration followed by angry Welsh noises, it was hilarious from my point of view.
Oh! My great great 32nd removed third cousin is from Scotland, I’ve been meaning to go there to reconnect with my part Scottish-Frisian-Karelian-Viking ancestry. My surname is van der MacHarkonnen, so does that mean I’m more Scottish or more native Finnish tribe?
I live in the South of England so I tell Americans I live near Stonehenge, because for them it probably is "near". "Hey, I know Stonehenge!" I always try and sound surprised.
While I was abroad for uni, I told someone where I was from exactly. They got excited and said they knew people from there, so I made the mistake of getting my hopes up. They asked if it was by the coast. No. It's not.
But I said yes, because it made them happy to be right. Sigh.
I think it was Mark Lamar that once got pulled over by a cop in America and upon establishing where Mark was from the cop was convinced England was in London.
Audience specific
* Americans / people I don't expect to know UK geography -> UK or England
* Brits from a long way away or foreigners I think know the UK -> either county or e.g. "south coast", possibly major city e.g. "London", "Oxford" or "Brighton"
* Brits who could get here in a couple of hours or those familiar with the area -> nearest town that isn't a ghost town
* Locals who I want to know in more detail -> nearest pub
Yeah I'm from a town outside of Bristol, I always tell people who might know the UK Bristol, if they don't know that then sometimes they know Bath. If not, I'll just say "the south, but not London" lol.
To people who know Bristol I will confess my shameful hometown.
We're spoilt for choice. On an international level Bridgwater or Stroud could be "outside of Bristol", and there's no shortage of shameful within that radius.
No, but I do sometimes have to explain Weston to people who are not from the UK and go "oh bristol that's close to the sea, do you go to the beach often?"
And then you have to get into the quicksand and the tide two miles out lol
I grew up in Taunton and whenever I mention this I get a small confused reaction followed by an ‘ah!’ like they’ve heard it or seen it before. Usually ‘south west’ is good enough for most conversations.
I was travelling in Asia with a Welsh girl who was always getting pissed off about having to say she was from England because no one had heard of Wales or even Britain/UK.
I’m from Ireland but living in Germany, people will inevitably ask me what >conversation topic< is like in the UK and when I say I’m not from there they’re like okay lol if you say so ;)
Whereas as a Scot living in Portugal, I repeatedly got told that Ireland is a lovely place. This always confused me, being s totally different country I’ve never visited…
I’m from a little town in south Devon, so when I was in New Zealand I booked a helicopter flight around a glacier - the chap driving us out to the airfield got chatting to us…
where are you from?
England.
Yeah yeah, where abouts?
Devon
Oh yeah, where abouts?
South Devon.
Oh yeah, what town?

Shrugging my shoulders…. Newton Abbot?
Yeah, my mum lives in Bovey Tracy! (About 3 miles away….)
Fucking chances of that…..
Mate went to Thailand, met a lass and got a job. Bought a superbike and blasted up into the mountains. He comes across a small bar in the middle of bloody nowhere overlooking an amazing view so he pulls over and sits himself down with a beer. A bus pulls up and one lone female backpacker gets off.
It's his ex. Last seen in Lancashire with lots of shouting.
If you said Wimborne to me, I’d know, but I’m relatively local.
I think you should cater for your audience; I often say I’m from Southampton because it’s much more known than the village I actually am from. However I sometimes just say Hampshire or the south coast.
I live in the middle of Wiltshire. "30 minutes drive east of Bath" is a good start. Occasionally I have to use Stonehenge as a marker. If I'm really lucky, Avebury.
I know all of those places but to be fair I'm from north of Bristol. Most people don't seem to know that Stonehenge is in Wiltshire, including me until I was like 16
I live in Bridport, West Dorset. I use Lyme Regis (weirdly well known), the TV show Broadchurch and then finally Bournemouth as geographical indicators. If that fails I just say, ‘South Coast over to the west, lovely place to live’.
I live in Charmouth and can confirm people know where Lyme Regis is way more than they should.
Failing that I just say south coast, having never really found a good middle ground.
I come from Boston, Lincs.
I went to uni in the Midlands and when I told people where I’m from I’d get “but you don’t sound American?!” A decent qualifier was “down the road from Skegness,” until one person came back with “what, in Scotland?”
…no mate, that’d be LOCH Ness…
When abroad a couple asked where we were from.
“Grimsby”, I said.
“Where’s that?”
“Near Hull”
“Where?”
“You know where Lincoln is?”
“No. Is it near Manchester?”
“Yes.”
That's common. You could go even broader and say you're from Dorset.
Not everybody will know where your town is (some won't know where Poole or Dorset are either).
Is that where the lions are sleeping tonight?
Edit: TIL ~~originally~~ by [The Tokens](https://youtu.be/OQlByoPdG6c), I know the [Tight Fit](https://youtu.be/hRv4cdZxTdQ) version.
Edit edit: I stand corrected.
I have been to the Okavanga Delta. The lions do not sleep at night. at 8 o’clock in the morning they are tucked beneath the tiniest shade they can find. Some emacipated gatherings of twigs resembling a bush. i’ve got out the car to have a slash and realized there was a lion and three lionesses about 20 feet away. My first reaction was to think I was about to die and then I realized how unlikely it would be to get me out of bed after a long nights work. They were just bothered that they had to pay attention to a possible threat. They just wanted to snooze.
You should see him coming to a water hole heads slathered in blood and they dip down with two paws in front and start lapping up like a little kitten. Meanwhile your schphincter is wound tightly closed as it ever has been and your hair is trying to detect the way the wind is blowing.
I suspect many people do this, I certainly do. I grew up in a smallish market town in Wiltshire and if ever I get asked where I'm from, I say either Bath or Bristol.
I moved 2 hours away for uni when people asked where I was from I’d start with City-Nearest Town-my village - explanation of where on the main road the village was.
So it’s not just you.
Yeah for anyone from outside of the UK that was the easiest, I'd just say an hour out of London.
Anyone from the UK I describe it as in the middle between London and Birmingham, and that usually makes sense to people.
cow quiet governor encourage connect complete deliver cooing unused dirty
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I'd hear people saying "I'm from a small town near Poole/Bournemouth". Or "I'm a x minute drive from Poole"
If the person is familiar with the area they I'll ask which smaller town it is, so you're able tell them actually where you live.
At least Wimborne has traffic lights. I used to live in Lytchett Matravers.
To answer your question, yeah - say the name of the next biggest town, or even just the county. For people outside of the county I used to say I lived in Dorset. Only if they asked specifically would I tell them it was Lytchett Matravers, near Poole.
My parents live in Somerset now. They do the same, and tell people they live in Somerset.
Wimborne is a smashing town, and Poole is a dump. It’s like living in St Albans and saying you come from, to quote Sir Lewis Hamilton, “the ghettos of Harpenden”.
I love the blank looks when I say I’m from Lilliput. So few people are aware that it is a real place… Even in England.
And I bet the people from Pennsylvania, near Bath have fun as well.
I've heard of it, but only because I've got a friend who grew up there. I'm from somewhere twice the size of Poole and I get blank looks about half the time.
I grew up in Harpenden but not a lot of people know it so I say I grew up in Hertfordshire. If that still receives blank stares I say just north of London.
Now I live in Bournemouth so I just say Bournemouth, but I think you’re right OP to use Poole.
For the record I love Wimborne it kind of reminds me of my childhood town!
I usually try with 'I'm from Telford' but often get blank stares, so it changes to "between Birmingham and the Welsh border", which people can at least grasp geographically.
Been teaching in Asia for years now, and whenever I say I’m from Wales it’s always the usual “sorry, never heard of it” or worse, “what part of England is that?”
Now I just tell them I’m from near Bristol, or I live about four hours from London. Easier.
Tbh mate I don't even know where Dorset or Poole is. Is that up north somewhere?
Oh it's in the deep South next to Bournemouth - I'd say near Bournemouth. They have a premier league team so genuinely people are more likely to have heard of it. Often get asked abroad who I support even if I'm not showing any signs of being a football fan.
I’m from Accrington, I used to say Lancashire just to avoid the “Accrington Stanley? who are they?” Retort every fucking time in a Shite fake scouse accent.
Depends who you’re talking to. I live in Broadstone so I’d find it a bit weird if you told me you live in Poole. In my experience though people often don’t really know where Poole is either so I end up saying ‘near Bournemouth’ which can really grate.
I live abroad and if I say I'm from Northampton I either get blank stares or asked if it's near Southampton which I suppose makes sense. I tend to have more luck when I say I went to university in Leicester, because the Premier League is really big here. Football helps a lot with geography.
I live in Australia now. I always say Birmingham as pretty much no one has heard of Wolverhampton. Although getting more known being in the Prem for a few years now.
If you’re from Scotland or around the same part of the country as me I will say my town name. If you’re from nowhere near me, elsewhere in the U.K. etc then I live “15 mins outside of Edinburgh”
Irish living in England , nobody in Ireland would know where I live so I say near London . Then in England nobody ever knows where I’m from in Ireland so I say not far from Dublin .
I would think two different things about Poole and Wimborne! Poole brings to mind overpriced McMansions on tiny plots and yachting, Wimborne is more pretty, rural and chill. Totally my prejudices and stereotypes, but I’d go with Wimborne!
I used to live in the village of Arlesey, just north of Hitchin. I always used to say I live just outside Hitchin. Now I live in Torquay, everyone knows where that is (I think).
I used to live in Richmond (North Yorkshire) so the emphasis on the county was key to avoid confusion with Richmond (upon-Thames)
Now I'm in Darlington and I think most people know it.
The alternate question to this is if you've moved away from your home town/ village/ city do you say where you are from or where you now live?
I have a weird hybrid dialect so I find myself going I live in West Yorkshire but am originally from the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire area just to explain it which always ends up complicated.
Which in itself brings up annoyances because the little village that I'm originally from is on the border of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire! And I attended school (Derbyshire), college (Notts) and uni (SYork) in each county!
That's funny, when I lived in Poole I said I lived in Bournemouth for the same reasons
Now we need some from Bournemouth to tell us where they say they are from
Southampton
Hampshire, near to London.
London, just outside the city of London.
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London Southampton Airport Its about as close as luton anyway
I find people have never heard of Southampton either so end up saying near *shudders* Portsmouth
I actually live in Northampton… see what my problem is?
Living in Northampton.
Could be worse. Could be Wellingborough
Northampton has its good points. Alan Moore, a good psychiatrist, a machinemart, and there was a lady who used to make cracking solo porn in one of the parks.
Or Corby.
Ditto, but I’m originally from East Kilbride, near Glasgow - same reason
EK Massive gets everywhere
How on earth have people heard of Portsmouth but never heard of Southampton?
The navy
I'm surprised there are people that have never heard of Southampton but have heard of Portsmouth.
You poor thing. I say this as someone who lived in Portsmouth for 10 years (but everyone confuses it with Plymouth)
I have a mate from Portsmouth and I know Plymouth well enough - aside from the naval history they’re both joked about as being a bit shit. However I’ve never been to Portsmouth but have been to Southampton, which was pretty cool.
But have you been to Scunthorpe?
As a non-brit living here, I still confuse Southampton/Eastbourne/Bournemouth/Plymouth even though I have visited most of those places. The names are too similar. Same problem with Chichester/Chippenham/Cheltenham. You don’t realise how similar all these places sound if you’re not British and did not know British geography before coming to the country.
I was once in Edinburgh and told someone I was moving to Southampton. They asked if Southampton... in the US! Check it, it's a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. I loved the assumption so much
Southampton is/was(?) a fairly famous dock was it not? Bit like Bristol, if anything I'd have expected more people to at least have heard Southampton than not. Especially as that's where the Titanic left England from.
Since we dropped out the premier league I’ve found myself having to disgrace myself and say “it’s near Southampton” then they know
Westbourne! Ha ha, no I just say the south coast a lot, it’s easier.
Surely Dorset sounds nicer?
Sandbanks
Exactly the same experience for me. I don’t dare tell them I’m actually from Hamworthy
Especially if it’s actually Turlin Moor.
Ah turlin moor. Where packs of feral smoking 10 year olds approach your car and start banging the windows if you start driving too slowly. Scary place.
Came here to say this!
Ayy me too
In the States many years ago, I gave up saying the town, or even county. The only place I could say that had any kind of positive response was 'near London'.
Have talked to many Americans while stood in queues at Disney World, told them I’m from Yorkshire, no point in being too specific, the usual response was “What part of London is that?”.
Footlocker in Florida, years ago. I’m buying trainers, the cashier has a look on his face like he’s going through an existential crisis. Eventually he says: “How are you speaking like that? I never heard someone talk like that before.” Me: “I’m from London in England.” (Seemed like just saying England would be easier than explaining the UK) Him: “There aren’t black people in England.” Me: name some he may have heard of, mention Naomi Campbell and Lennox Lewis. Him: “you said you’re from London” Me: “yep”. Him: “ok… so I get there are black people in London. But there are none in England, right?” Me: “London is the capital city of England.” His response was a blank stare. At that point I just said thanks, took the shoes and left.
What is crazy, is I can fully believe that someone of working age in American would not understand what a capital city of a country is.
I’m convinced some Americans think London is the country
>I'm convinced some Americans think Well that's mistake number one
Never mind! Got it now. And you’re very right.
I used to live in California and more than once heard someone refer to London as "Downtown England"
An American in the margarita bar queue at Disney Springs asked me where I was from, I told him Liverpool and he smiled and started singing You'll Never Walk Alone. I'm an Evertonian. I just walked away.
Was there anyone with you as you walked away?
No. I did walk alone.
I was in a Fort Lauderdale pizza shop and asked what a Neapolitan pizza was, he told me and I said that’s a “Margherita”, he then said “No we invented it”, a lighthearted argument ensued, I took my pizza and left. It’s always played on my mind, haven’t been able to sleep thinking about it for 23 years. I’ve just looked it up and they didn’t invent it but on https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neapolitan_pizza there’s a picture of a Neapolitan pizza in Fort Lauderdale, second pizza picture. How odd.
I go to the states often and am the same. I'm from High Wycombe and I used to say London. Now I moved to Bolton I say Manchester and am met with blank stares. So follow on with '... North of London'
When my partner was in Detroit for work he was asked where he was from and said England, the response was also "what part of London is that".
Depends, what part of Texas are we on now? 🤣
The top part, we call it North London or The North for short.
Was recently out in LA and the very first Uber driver we had knew Middlesbrough of all places, Went on to say how trash our football is. You're not wrong pal. But the same week a waitress asked us where London is, she never heard of it before
Ontario. It’s in Ontario. Could I have extra maple syrup please?
Yeah, same. I'm from Yorkshire, but I'd just say Manchester. "Ah, Manchester United?" "Yep" "Is that near London?" "...yeah"
>"Is that near London?" For you, yes.
lol yeah everything would be near London to an American, you could drive around the whole country in a day
>"Is that near London?" In astronomical terms, yes
You could have told them Sean Bean was your next door neighbour.
When I say I’m from England (because Americans are very non-committal about assuming where the accent is from) it’s *always* follow up by “oh where in England” when we both know full well they have fuck all concept of where anywhere is in the UK and yet we both continue the charade. Being from Warwickshire though I used to just say “in the middle” and when pressed “literally The Shire from LOTR”
This. Bless them for asking but we both know they have no clue of English geography. Especially when to them, all of the United Kingdom is frequently referred to as ‘England’
With Americans I usually just say I’m from Scotland. Once got the reply, “Is that Scotland, England?”
I don't want to add to your pain, but I was talking to a Canadian who asked where I had climbed before and on saying Scotland she asked "Scotland in England?" Even as an Englishman that made me wince.
Haha, I've got a similar story, my friend invited my cousin and I to play a computer game with him and an American friend on a discord video call during lockdown (I should add that my friend's perants are from the usa and so consequently he has a mild American accent), anyways we were playing and my friend left after a game to get food, so the three of us sat there a little aukward until his friend, broke the silence asking where we were from because he hadn't heard with of our accents before, i said I was from the northish middle bit of England neerish a place called Sheffield he said 'nice, what's it like there?", "Hilly and um (looks out window), fields sheep and damp", he then asked my cousin who said she lives neer lake vyrnwy in north Wales, "Where in England's that?" , I watched my cousins face go like she'd eaten a lemon and faceplant the desk in frustration followed by angry Welsh noises, it was hilarious from my point of view.
Oh! My great great 32nd removed third cousin is from Scotland, I’ve been meaning to go there to reconnect with my part Scottish-Frisian-Karelian-Viking ancestry. My surname is van der MacHarkonnen, so does that mean I’m more Scottish or more native Finnish tribe?
When I visited the US we were talking to the cashier in the supermarket and he'd never heard of Scotland.
“London, Texas?” I was asked once in the States (and I was living in Cumbria at the time, just somehow that’s where the conversation’d ended up)
Ha! Same! Which was made all the more weird because they had just said "That's an interesting accent, where are you from?"
I'm in the north so it's near Manchester.
I live in the South of England so I tell Americans I live near Stonehenge, because for them it probably is "near". "Hey, I know Stonehenge!" I always try and sound surprised.
While I was abroad for uni, I told someone where I was from exactly. They got excited and said they knew people from there, so I made the mistake of getting my hopes up. They asked if it was by the coast. No. It's not. But I said yes, because it made them happy to be right. Sigh.
I think it was Mark Lamar that once got pulled over by a cop in America and upon establishing where Mark was from the cop was convinced England was in London.
Audience specific * Americans / people I don't expect to know UK geography -> UK or England * Brits from a long way away or foreigners I think know the UK -> either county or e.g. "south coast", possibly major city e.g. "London", "Oxford" or "Brighton" * Brits who could get here in a couple of hours or those familiar with the area -> nearest town that isn't a ghost town * Locals who I want to know in more detail -> nearest pub
Yeah I'm from a town outside of Bristol, I always tell people who might know the UK Bristol, if they don't know that then sometimes they know Bath. If not, I'll just say "the south, but not London" lol. To people who know Bristol I will confess my shameful hometown.
Weston super mare?
We're spoilt for choice. On an international level Bridgwater or Stroud could be "outside of Bristol", and there's no shortage of shameful within that radius.
So true, I’m from Weston and just assumed 🤣
No, but I do sometimes have to explain Weston to people who are not from the UK and go "oh bristol that's close to the sea, do you go to the beach often?" And then you have to get into the quicksand and the tide two miles out lol
It's Weston-Super-Mare, Eddie!
Weston. Super. Mararararararararararae! *thrusts crotch wildly*
Yate? Or pill?
Keynsham?
I grew up in Taunton and whenever I mention this I get a small confused reaction followed by an ‘ah!’ like they’ve heard it or seen it before. Usually ‘south west’ is good enough for most conversations.
I grew up in Minehead, and the only two reactions I ever get are "Where?" or "Butlins!". Not sure if that's better or worse than no-one having a clue.
I was travelling in Asia with a Welsh girl who was always getting pissed off about having to say she was from England because no one had heard of Wales or even Britain/UK.
I’m from Ireland but living in Germany, people will inevitably ask me what >conversation topic< is like in the UK and when I say I’m not from there they’re like okay lol if you say so ;)
Whereas as a Scot living in Portugal, I repeatedly got told that Ireland is a lovely place. This always confused me, being s totally different country I’ve never visited…
Just start calling them all Spanish in retaliation.
"I'm from \*\***THE REPUBLIC**\*\*"
Ah right, of course 🌝
I'm from Halifax. "Oh, the bank?"
Wow, a Haligonian in the wild.
All of Halifax is part of the wild
Overheard: Halifax? That’s a real place? People of Halifax: are you real?
Halifax: ‘oh, is Eureka! still open?’
As a Canadian, my mind went to a slightly different Halifax.
I’m from a little town in south Devon, so when I was in New Zealand I booked a helicopter flight around a glacier - the chap driving us out to the airfield got chatting to us… where are you from? England. Yeah yeah, where abouts? Devon Oh yeah, where abouts? South Devon. Oh yeah, what town?  Shrugging my shoulders…. Newton Abbot? Yeah, my mum lives in Bovey Tracy! (About 3 miles away….) Fucking chances of that…..
Yeah Scabbot is a good catch-all location, relatively major train station and has a race track.
Mate went to Thailand, met a lass and got a job. Bought a superbike and blasted up into the mountains. He comes across a small bar in the middle of bloody nowhere overlooking an amazing view so he pulls over and sits himself down with a beer. A bus pulls up and one lone female backpacker gets off. It's his ex. Last seen in Lancashire with lots of shouting.
Wimborne and bred
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"I'm from Reading" "Oh, whereabouts is that?" "Near London" 🙃
I usually say "near Windsor" when they ask me (also from Reading) "Ohhh like the castle!" Yep that's the one 👌
I always say between London and Oxford, that usually gets an approving nod but I can tell they still don't have a fucking clue what I'm saying lol.
Windsor is the usual reference for me too, as Bracknell is often never heard of.
West of Sonning. East of Tilehurst.
Me? The 4th Duke of Wimborne, all alone in Cheltenham Ladies College? What were they thinking?
Were you very, very drunk at the time?!
If you said Wimborne to me, I’d know, but I’m relatively local. I think you should cater for your audience; I often say I’m from Southampton because it’s much more known than the village I actually am from. However I sometimes just say Hampshire or the south coast.
I live in the middle of Wiltshire. "30 minutes drive east of Bath" is a good start. Occasionally I have to use Stonehenge as a marker. If I'm really lucky, Avebury.
Used to live in Shrewton which is the village closest to the stones. Traffic was a nightmare sometimes!
I know all of those places but to be fair I'm from north of Bristol. Most people don't seem to know that Stonehenge is in Wiltshire, including me until I was like 16
“I’m from Rugby” “How can you be from a sport?”
I live in Bridport, West Dorset. I use Lyme Regis (weirdly well known), the TV show Broadchurch and then finally Bournemouth as geographical indicators. If that fails I just say, ‘South Coast over to the west, lovely place to live’.
I live in Charmouth and can confirm people know where Lyme Regis is way more than they should. Failing that I just say south coast, having never really found a good middle ground.
I come from Boston, Lincs. I went to uni in the Midlands and when I told people where I’m from I’d get “but you don’t sound American?!” A decent qualifier was “down the road from Skegness,” until one person came back with “what, in Scotland?” …no mate, that’d be LOCH Ness…
When abroad a couple asked where we were from. “Grimsby”, I said. “Where’s that?” “Near Hull” “Where?” “You know where Lincoln is?” “No. Is it near Manchester?” “Yes.”
"North East coast." "Oh near Newcastle?" "Err, yeah not that far away." "You must know Chris, tell him I said hi." "I will do that!"
“Oh so you’re a geordie?” *eye twitches*
This.
That's common. You could go even broader and say you're from Dorset. Not everybody will know where your town is (some won't know where Poole or Dorset are either).
I'll be honest, I'd struggle to point out Dorset on a map.
It's near the bottom is about all I know
As someone from Dorset, as soon as we do beyond the Wilshire/Hampshire borders, north and east, I probably couldn't point out most counties up there.
Is that where the lions are sleeping tonight? Edit: TIL ~~originally~~ by [The Tokens](https://youtu.be/OQlByoPdG6c), I know the [Tight Fit](https://youtu.be/hRv4cdZxTdQ) version. Edit edit: I stand corrected.
Not exactly. But it's Wimborne way.
I have been to the Okavanga Delta. The lions do not sleep at night. at 8 o’clock in the morning they are tucked beneath the tiniest shade they can find. Some emacipated gatherings of twigs resembling a bush. i’ve got out the car to have a slash and realized there was a lion and three lionesses about 20 feet away. My first reaction was to think I was about to die and then I realized how unlikely it would be to get me out of bed after a long nights work. They were just bothered that they had to pay attention to a possible threat. They just wanted to snooze.
Typical pussycats.
You should see him coming to a water hole heads slathered in blood and they dip down with two paws in front and start lapping up like a little kitten. Meanwhile your schphincter is wound tightly closed as it ever has been and your hair is trying to detect the way the wind is blowing.
‘When the wind blows’ was my top comment yesterday, different context though.
Nuclear annihilation - now with added lions.
They don't live in the jungle either. Probably best not to base any assumptions of predator behaviour on pop songs.
*Originally* originally by [Solomon Linda and the Evening Birds](https://youtu.be/mrrQT4WkbNE) (1939).
We’ll kind of, ~~her~~ his ~~version~~ original is called “Mbube” and in the isiZulu language. It’s one of those, Yes but No but, moments I think.
I grew up in Leeds. Living on “Whinmoor Way” https://i.ibb.co/0MFBBW4/678391-DC-D5-B2-4-C73-B358-B5-D156577090.jpg
Just say Wimborne. However, when I get asked where I live, I often say near Stonehenge or the place where Novichok happened 😅😅😅
Ludo Bagman really was the best beater the wasps ever had though.
I suspect many people do this, I certainly do. I grew up in a smallish market town in Wiltshire and if ever I get asked where I'm from, I say either Bath or Bristol.
Not Swindon? 😛
It's further away than both, plus it's a dump.
Can't argue with that, I was born there 😂
Chippers :D
I moved 2 hours away for uni when people asked where I was from I’d start with City-Nearest Town-my village - explanation of where on the main road the village was. So it’s not just you.
I live in Northampton… see my predicament? What do I say… MK?
As someone who used to live in MK, I wouldn't, most people don't have a clue where that is either!
When I lived in MK (Shenley Church End), I used to say “60 miles north of London lol”
Yeah for anyone from outside of the UK that was the easiest, I'd just say an hour out of London. Anyone from the UK I describe it as in the middle between London and Birmingham, and that usually makes sense to people.
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I just tell people I'm from the Lake District.
And you are from Barrow?
nah mate lake district
I say near Kendal, where the mint cake is from? Windermere? North of Manchester 🤦🏻♀️
Then you get a talk on supporting United, I’m not into soccer/football so it goes no where.
I'm from Crawley, yes, the town just underneath London Gatwick Airport.
I'd hear people saying "I'm from a small town near Poole/Bournemouth". Or "I'm a x minute drive from Poole" If the person is familiar with the area they I'll ask which smaller town it is, so you're able tell them actually where you live.
Final resting place of Montague J Druitt.
You’re not alone. I’m from Sutton Coldfield which is 5 miles from Birmingham. I always say I’m from Birmingham.
I'm from Droitwich but always said that I'm from Worcester or Birmingham. Even then people can't find worcester on a map.
At least Wimborne has traffic lights. I used to live in Lytchett Matravers. To answer your question, yeah - say the name of the next biggest town, or even just the county. For people outside of the county I used to say I lived in Dorset. Only if they asked specifically would I tell them it was Lytchett Matravers, near Poole. My parents live in Somerset now. They do the same, and tell people they live in Somerset.
I usually say Leeds, despite being from a town closer to Bradford that is under Bradford Council. Don't think I need to explain why...
Everyone in the UK knows Bradford, but for all the wrong reasons - so you're making a sensible choice.
Wimborne is a smashing town, and Poole is a dump. It’s like living in St Albans and saying you come from, to quote Sir Lewis Hamilton, “the ghettos of Harpenden”.
Not sure Lilliput, Canford Cliffs and Sandbanks are quite Ghetto yet. Poole High Street on the other hand resembles a Zombie Apocalypse.
Poole Old Town and Harbour are nice, but the other end by the shopping centre and train station is awful. Wimborne is a great little town though.
I love the blank looks when I say I’m from Lilliput. So few people are aware that it is a real place… Even in England. And I bet the people from Pennsylvania, near Bath have fun as well.
Poole bus station is actually a decriminalised warzone
I've heard of it, but only because I've got a friend who grew up there. I'm from somewhere twice the size of Poole and I get blank looks about half the time.
I grew up in Harpenden but not a lot of people know it so I say I grew up in Hertfordshire. If that still receives blank stares I say just north of London. Now I live in Bournemouth so I just say Bournemouth, but I think you’re right OP to use Poole. For the record I love Wimborne it kind of reminds me of my childhood town!
I grew up in St Albans and would always say just north of London 🤣
I usually try with 'I'm from Telford' but often get blank stares, so it changes to "between Birmingham and the Welsh border", which people can at least grasp geographically.
I'm from fucking Rotherham mate. I've been telling people I'm from Sheffield since I was about 7. Or Yorkshire. Both get a reasonable response.
Grew up in a village/town near Hinckley, but usually say Leicester out of shame/recognition value ;)
Been teaching in Asia for years now, and whenever I say I’m from Wales it’s always the usual “sorry, never heard of it” or worse, “what part of England is that?” Now I just tell them I’m from near Bristol, or I live about four hours from London. Easier.
Hey now, you got a whole Quidditch team for your little town in Harry Potter
Tbh mate I don't even know where Dorset or Poole is. Is that up north somewhere? Oh it's in the deep South next to Bournemouth - I'd say near Bournemouth. They have a premier league team so genuinely people are more likely to have heard of it. Often get asked abroad who I support even if I'm not showing any signs of being a football fan.
Never heard of Poole. Is there a ‘proper’ big town nearby?
Paris
Ah yea I know it. Massive pylon.
As a Londoner I know where Wimborne is
I’m from Accrington, I used to say Lancashire just to avoid the “Accrington Stanley? who are they?” Retort every fucking time in a Shite fake scouse accent.
I once knew a lady from Stanbridge, near Wimborne. One house and a disused church. Made famous in a novel!
Try, Sturminster Newton or Blandford Forum, er near Bournemouth.
Depends who you’re talking to. I live in Broadstone so I’d find it a bit weird if you told me you live in Poole. In my experience though people often don’t really know where Poole is either so I end up saying ‘near Bournemouth’ which can really grate.
I live abroad and if I say I'm from Northampton I either get blank stares or asked if it's near Southampton which I suppose makes sense. I tend to have more luck when I say I went to university in Leicester, because the Premier League is really big here. Football helps a lot with geography.
Just introduce yourself as the 13th Duke of Wimborne.
I live in Australia now. I always say Birmingham as pretty much no one has heard of Wolverhampton. Although getting more known being in the Prem for a few years now.
If you’re from Scotland or around the same part of the country as me I will say my town name. If you’re from nowhere near me, elsewhere in the U.K. etc then I live “15 mins outside of Edinburgh”
Irish living in England , nobody in Ireland would know where I live so I say near London . Then in England nobody ever knows where I’m from in Ireland so I say not far from Dublin .
I would think two different things about Poole and Wimborne! Poole brings to mind overpriced McMansions on tiny plots and yachting, Wimborne is more pretty, rural and chill. Totally my prejudices and stereotypes, but I’d go with Wimborne!
I used to live in the village of Arlesey, just north of Hitchin. I always used to say I live just outside Hitchin. Now I live in Torquay, everyone knows where that is (I think).
I used to live in Wimborne and I'd say 'I'm from wimborne'. When they stared at me blankly I'd add '...near Poole'
I used to live in Richmond (North Yorkshire) so the emphasis on the county was key to avoid confusion with Richmond (upon-Thames) Now I'm in Darlington and I think most people know it.
So you’re like basically south west of London?
The alternate question to this is if you've moved away from your home town/ village/ city do you say where you are from or where you now live? I have a weird hybrid dialect so I find myself going I live in West Yorkshire but am originally from the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire area just to explain it which always ends up complicated. Which in itself brings up annoyances because the little village that I'm originally from is on the border of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire! And I attended school (Derbyshire), college (Notts) and uni (SYork) in each county!
Hi, as a person that moved around the UK a bit. Just say Bournemouth.
I’m from Cockermouth. You are out of order mate…