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Glite Dictionary
Home Counties

Home Counties

1 7.0
Counties around London in southern England where many people travel to work
  • proper noun
  • UK
: Home Counties
  • Travel options from the Home Counties to central London make commuting easy.

So it was, it was Home Counties versus London.

Examples

  • The real estate market in the Home Counties is thriving, with many new developments.

  • So it was, it was Home Counties versus London.

    The BlueTick Show

  • Many families in London move to the Home Counties for a quieter lifestyle.

Surface Forms

Home Counties main

Morphology

home + county

Although the constituents 'home' and 'county' superficially suggest counties related to a home or local area, the phrase is a conventional, region-specific proper name for the counties surrounding London. A B1 learner who knows the individual words would not reliably infer this precise, culturally specific meaning without prior exposure.

Etymology

Home Counties comes from Londoners who kept country houses just outside the city. They thought of those nearby counties as their home away from the city, so today the phrase means the counties that 'surround' London.