So...

[mind the gap]

This raises the question of whether the opposite of "Oop North" is "Down South", "Dine Sithe" or "Dahn Sahf".

If you draw a line from Bristol to Cromer, everything south of that line is The Southern Badlands and it is the geographical, culinary, political and cultural opposite of 'oop north'.

[MAF]

If you draw a line from Bristol to Cromer, everything south of that line is The Southern Badlands and it is the geographical, culinary, political and cultural opposite of 'oop north'.

That's certainly one definition, though I prefer everything south of Newark!

[Lawcruncher]

If you draw a line from Bristol to Cromer, everything south of that line is The Southern Badlands and it is the geographical, culinary, political and cultural opposite of 'oop north'.

If it is to be a straight line I would draw it a bit further north - Gloucester to King's Lynn. More generally we can say the line goes from the Severn Estuary to The Wash. If you want to follow administrative boundaries, the northern boundaries of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire. All such lines roughly follow the line that divides northern and southern varieties of English English. Linguistic, geographical, culinary, political and cultural boundaries do not though coincide neatly. I lived for many years in the East Midlands and the people who live there do not consider it to be in the North, perhaps because living in the centre they have a more balanced view of the overall geography. If you live in a corner you idea of distances gets distorted. Most Londoners would consider Land's End nearer to London than the Scottish border, but they are the same distance away.

[theartfullodger]

Distance is not just measured in miles but, say, cultural differences....

[leaseholdanswers]

Then is Tower Hamlets West Bengal...?

Even 30 miles out of London there is visible relaxation of people, driving etc and even just a hello in the street - different culture entirely.

[Dottie]

There's a thread title at the moment which keeps confusing me... wondering why one would be letting to you, leaseholdanswers...

[JK0]

There's a thread title at the moment which keeps confusing me... wondering why one would be letting to you, leaseholdanswers...

Yes, I was going to make fun of that, but resisted the temptation.

[Dottie]

Me - nah! Like Oscar I can resist everything but temptation! :-)