[Normal_gaussian]

I just asked a member of high society (my current employer) as to whether 'Town' is used to refer to London. His reply was exemplary:

> Only obnoxious wankers from London will, small minded people [...] will also talk about 'their little house in the country' when they mean it is barely on the outskirts of a city!

As somebody from the true North (with family originating in the North of Scotland) the way people refer to places always intrigues me. I once had a friend who referred to Southport (population 90k), where he grew up, as a small town.

I think most people don't actually have a real concept of the hamlet -> village -> town -> city relationship and so the words are easily repurposed. However I do not think doing this is somehow bad, or incorrect.

[dempseye]

I'm from Ireland. In the version of English I grew up with, we refer to the nearest big town or city - wherever the business, social and cultural life of the area is concentrated, basically - as "town." We would say, for instance:

- "I'm going into town."

- "Let's meet in town."

- "Is there anything going on in town tonight?"

When I lived in the south-east of Ireland, "town" referred to the central business district of the nearby city of 50k inhabitants. When I lived in Dublin, "town" was Dublin city centre. And if I lived in or near London, "town" would refer to areas of central London.

It really has nothing to do with whether the place qualifies as a village, town, city or what have you.

[Normal_gaussian]

Which was my point. There are at least two different uses for the words, and they are more relevant to some people than others. Neither is 'incorrect'.