The whole of England is not London ;-)

Iowa is just a non-starter.  I don't even bother.  I just say from near Chicago and call it close enough.

Same with Rhode Island. Most people seem to think it's part of New York. Confusion with Long Island, maybe? But it's not just Brits who do this - the same thing used to happen to me in Louisiana when I explained where I was moving to. I generally say that it's sort of between NYC and Boston and that seems to satisfy most people.

Family and friends: So, how's London?
Me: We don't live in London we live in the North.
F&F: Oh, but I bet you go to London often.  DH works in London doesn't he? 
Me:  Not really.  He goes down occasionally for meetings but we live 200 miles north of London so it's not very convenient.
F&F (confused by now):  I thought you lived near London.  So, where do you live, Scotland?  I love Scotland, but I've never been.    

OMG... and that's the good version.  I'm sure I've done my York vs New York bits on this site before.  I love that one.  'So, you don't live in the UK, you live in New York.'  OMG.. headaches ensue. 

Welcome back! 

I just say I live in the middle Great Britain. Or I just say London. Maybe Manchester, if I want to chance it. 'Cause I can't be bothered! 

I like how Yorkshire is also comparable to New York.  A few of the nurses at my mom's hospital kept asking me about New York.  London I get sorta- but New York!?! 

I would be a millionaire by now for every time I have had to explain the difference between West Virginia and Virginia.

Virginians are all tobacco farmers, whereas West Virginians are all coal miner's daughters, isn't that right?

I get the "So how's life in England?" thing

"I don't live in England. I live in Scotland"

"But isn't Scotland part of England?"

(Goodness help you when you try and explain Ireland and Northern Ireland!!!) 


Does anyone here get the "Well if I fly to London you can just come and pick me up, right?"

Oh yeap, sure, 8-12 hours by car/train or a 2 hour flight that goes no where near Heathrow (where there's a good chance your flight probably lands) so I have to add in other public transport options and takes forever... But yeap, sure I can just pick you up in London!

For 'where I'm from in the US' - I've started to say - 'Kansas - just like Dorothy!'  The Wizard of Oz invariably comes up anyway, and the conversation is immediately diverted from 'where Kansas is' to talking about The Wizard of Oz.  Or they just laugh & the conversation moves on.

I get the "So how's life in England?" thing

"I don't live in England. I live in Scotland"

"But isn't Scotland part of England?"

(Goodness help you when you try and explain Ireland and Northern Ireland!!!) 


Does anyone here get the "Well if I fly to London you can just come and pick me up, right?"

Oh yeap, sure, 8-12 hours by car/train or a 2 hour flight that goes no where near Heathrow (where there's a good chance your flight probably lands) so I have to add in other public transport options and takes forever... But yeap, sure I can just pick you up in London!

See, I get people who have managed to understand that I'm not in England, but then, of course, that means I must be in Ireland. 

I'm from NJ, so thanks to The Sopranos and Jersey Shore ( ) people seem to have a vague understanding that I'm from somewhere near NYC.

I thought my aunts and cousins "got it" when they came to London(to visit another cousin, because she had a flat that they could stay in at the time) from Chicago.

It took us about 3 hours on the train to get from Crewe where we live, to Oxford where we were meeting up with them. They don't ask how London is. My aunt still has trouble trying to say "Cheshire" they way she heard it when she was here, though.

For 'where I'm from in the US' - I've started to say - 'Kansas - just like Dorothy!'  The Wizard of Oz invariably comes up anyway, and the conversation is immediately diverted from 'where Kansas is' to talking about The Wizard of Oz.  Or they just laugh & the conversation moves on.

Yeah I get the whole "where the buffalo roam..winds sweeping down the plains bit" when I tell people I am from Oklahoma....

I get the "So how's life in England?" thing

"I don't live in England. I live in Scotland"

"But isn't Scotland part of England?"

(Goodness help you when you try and explain Ireland and Northern Ireland!!!) 


Does anyone here get the "Well if I fly to London you can just come and pick me up, right?"

Oh yeap, sure, 8-12 hours by car/train or a 2 hour flight that goes no where near Heathrow (where there's a good chance your flight probably lands) so I have to add in other public transport options and takes forever... But yeap, sure I can just pick you up in London!

Yes.  Or my favourite is, 'I can stay with you and just go into London and do what I want to do.'  Sure, if you want to drop at least £100 a day for tickets, you go for it!  They NEVER like that answer.