Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: Top of the town

Dear All,
'While she was enjoing a cup of tea with Carol in the Lyons Corner House
*at the top of the town* an elderly gentleman had complained to the
proprietor...'
La città di cui si parla è Coventry (Inghilterra).
La domanda sembrerà stupida - e forse lo è - ma 'at the top of the town'
significa 'nel punto più alto della città' o altro?
TIA
-- 
Ciao,
Anna

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Hi Anna, The "town" part of a city is the city center, generally where
most of the shops are.

 most of the shops are.
Thanks, jonny. But does 'the top' of the town mean 'the highest point'? Or
does it mean that the Lyons Corner House is a posh, smart, classy place?
-- 
Ciao,
Anna

 does it mean that the Lyons Corner House is a posh, smart, classy place?
Voto decisamente per la prima ipotesi, per quel che può valere.
Ciao, FB
-- 
"What meaning of this, Mitter Twain?". "I will tell you, Mr Wang, if you
can tell me why a man who possesses one of the most brilliant minds of this
century can't say his prepositions or articles".
(Murder by Death)

 significa 'nel punto più alto della città' o altro?
I haven't been to Coventry for years, but I seem to remember it's flat.
My guess is that "the top of the town" means the northern end of the
town, but I'm not sure, especially as a Lyons Corner House would
probably have been in the town centre.
-- 
Mary

 Thanks, jonny. But does 'the top' of the town mean 'the highest point'?
In pratica un'acropoli.
P.

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As a guess I would say the former or that it's at the top end of town
(as in the direction). Being as the sentence is "the Lyons Corner
House *at* the top of the town" and not
Carol in the Lyons Corner House *which is* the top of the town.
But I don't know for sure.

 probably have been in the town centre.
Grazie (se non altro di aver confermato che la mia domanda non era
completamente idiota!) :-)
-- 
Ciao,
Anna

 (as in the direction).
Grazie jonny e grazie FB: I think I can exclude my second guess.
-- 
Ciao,
Anna

 does it mean that the Lyons Corner House is a posh, smart, classy place?
It's really a marketing term, typically used to identify a place that is in 
a tall building in the city center, for example, The Top of the Mark in San 
Francisco. 

 Francisco.
AFAIK Lyon's Corner Houses were at street level.
-- 
Mary

 AFAIK Lyon's Corner Houses were at street level.
It could also be at the top of a hill, but it seems that in this case the 
typical references don't apply. Perhaps it has a different meaning in Great 
Britain. 

 generally where most of the shops are.
Ma non è il "downtown" il centro città?
-- 
oggi no, domani sì

 Ma non č il "downtown" il centro cittŕ?
Solo in americano, non in inglese GB.
-- 
Mary

I'm not familiar with the expression "the top of the town", but maybe
it means the classiest part of town, in the same sort of way as "the
High Street" is/was?
-- 
Adam Atkinson (
gh...@mistral.co.uk
)
GIANT WAVES DOWN QUEEN MARY'S FUNNEL

 Solo in americano, non in inglese GB.
Mi viene in mente una canzone dei '60, te la ricordi?
Era Petula Clark? non era inglese?
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 wrote in message
news:4Xk4d.371269$5D1.16...@news4.tin.it...
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Petula Clark, inglese, "Downtown", 1964.
Nei piccoli villaggi americani, invece di dire "downtown" dicono
"downstreet".
"Let's go downstreet and do a little shopping".
You almost always walk downstreet, and rarely drive, since the
villages are so small.
Joe from Massachusetts

 Petula Clark, inglese, "Downtown", 1964.
I conti non mi tornano, la canzone era cantata da 
un'inglese in americano?
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Sì, e lo era anche l'autore della canzone, ma sembra che lui sia stato
ispirato da una visita a New York, e che originalmente l'abbia scritto
cper un cantante americano.
-- 
Mary

 originalmente l'abbia scritto per un cantante americano.
Ah, ecco chiarito il mio dubbio.
Certo che fa uno strano effetto sentire "town" per NYC.
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 wrote in message
news:4qG4d.377233$5D1.17...@news4.tin.it...
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Negli USA "downtown" di solito significa "centro città", però non a
New York.
A New York:
Uptown - towards the North - You take the uptown subway train to go
north. If you ride the subway, you will see signs directing you to the
"uptown" and "downtown" trains.
Uptown - another name for Harlem.
Midtown - The geographic center of the city, which is also the true
heart of the city, where the hotels, restaurants, and Broadway are
found. In other cities, this area would be "downtown", but not in New
York.
Downtown - towards the South - take the downtown subway train to go
south.
Downtown - The business, financial, and government district, located
in the triangle below Chambers Street and the Brooklyn Bridge.
Joe from Massachusetts

 south.
I've heard 'down north' spoken by previous residents of the North living in 
the South of the US. Their names shall be withheld to protect the guilty.