On 26 May 2016 at 10:30am ClarifiedButler wrote:
The term 'DFL' does get used a lot on this forum, but it seems as though some people still don't really know what it means. Who would like to offer a definition? (Let's not get too sensitive about it though)
On 26 May 2016 at 10:36am Down from London wrote:
No clue.
On 26 May 2016 at 10:37am 8 miles from lewes wrote:
White flight.
On 26 May 2016 at 10:51am old bike wrote:
People who move into Lewes, generally from London, who's expectations of a small, county Town, its inhabitants and its services are not moderated to reflect the reality of everyday life.
This leads to them endlessly wishing to change their environment to better match the one they left. Totally unrealistic and very, very trying.
This has led to the terms 'La La Lewes' and 'The Velvet Ditch' becoming common parlance.
The best way to deal with them is to either communicate in a sussex dialect whilst chewing a straw, or beat them at their own game. Oh, and put your prices up.
On 26 May 2016 at 11:17am Resilewes wrote:
I've been called a DFL before on here, despite never living in London. Its just one of those cutesy, trite acronyms people use like "SJW" (social justice warrior) when they have little else worthwhile to say in a discussion and therefore want to try bring it to an abrupt conclusion.
On 26 May 2016 at 11:37am Earl of Lewes wrote:
Many of the DFLs I've met were actually born in small market towns like Lewes, but moved to London in their 20s to find work. I wonder if they're just trying to return to a more familiar environment. There are a few who just want this town to become the London Borough of Lewes, but there are others came here to get away from all that, so perhaps we need two categories.
On 26 May 2016 at 12:49pm Tingles wrote:
It means different things to different people. I am a dfl, a ufb and also someone who has ancestors who lived in this area for many generations until early 20th century. I think I get away with it by having a trade rather than being a commuter or running a trendy business. The way to be labeled a dfl is to be precious, drive a clean Chelsea tractor and complain about the lack of local diversity. Just own it and stop caring what people call you.
On 26 May 2016 at 12:59pm Pete Manyata wrote:
A simplistic label for the mass migration that is occurring across the South East because of turbo London house prices. Do old Ringmer inhabitants complain about DFLs - down from Lewes?
On 26 May 2016 at 1:21pm ClarifiedButler wrote:
How far can the migration go? The town can only absorb so many DFLs until the ratio between them and 'locals' means that all that is left of the market town idyll is the bricks and mortar...
On 26 May 2016 at 1:28pm Mrs p wrote:
Have to say only ever heard the term on here!!!
On 26 May 2016 at 1:57pm Ben wrote:
Although I like them and their rusty house, they are the ultimate DFLs.
On 26 May 2016 at 2:31pm local brexit wrote:
Anyone that votes to stay in the EU.
On 26 May 2016 at 2:51pm Jack wrote:
D f l are fine it's the. O.O .T . out of towners that move here and think they are Lewes born and bread
On 26 May 2016 at 2:56pm Reliable Plumber wrote:
I always smile at them when I take their money. Though I've never kicked the habit of muttering 'w@nkers' to myself as I walk out the door.
On 26 May 2016 at 3:14pm Reliable painter wrote:
Troll baiting, Ah what a lovely way to spend an afternoon .
On 26 May 2016 at 7:24pm Celine wrote:
I'm down from London but in London I was up from Cornwall. It's all nonsense.
On 26 May 2016 at 7:38pm Old bike wrote:
Yes Celine, but I suspect that when you moved to London you didn't try and brow beat everyone you spoke to about the virtues of a pastie. It is all about the difference in expectation, and the feeling of entitlement that exudes from your average DFL (not necessarily from London), that is what winds people up and makes them a target for ridicule/exclusion by those less 'fortunate'. In my view.
On 26 May 2016 at 7:54pm Nail on the head wrote:
Two absolutely brilliant posts Old Bike.
Should be in Wiki as defining definitions.
On 26 May 2016 at 9:41pm noel coward wrote:
Can't for the life of me understand why this little town is so popular,do people think moving here makes you altogether a more interesting individual with artistic talent,who knows and who really cares.Until a decent martini can be found here it's UFL (up to London) whenever I get a chance..chin chin.
On 26 May 2016 at 9:58pm L' actualite' wrote:
What's the elephant? It's not what Lewes has but what it hasn't (yet.)
On 26 May 2016 at 10:13pm Bert wrote:
I'm not sure I can define DFL because I've met people from Lewes with less respect for Lewes traditions than outsiders. But the things going on at that "Joy Festival" sums up everything I personally dislike about what's happening to Lewes now the London money is coming in. Artisan food, lost bohemian catwalks and God knows what else. So out of touch with the majority of the town.
On 26 May 2016 at 10:47pm Plebian wrote:
Was that the "boutique festival" advertised by earwig.
On 26 May 2016 at 10:56pm Woody wrote:
I was brought up in Lewes during the 70s and 80s.
Happy times.
I left to find work in London in the 90s.
Managed to do so, and was in my view successful.
Each time I come back to visit Lewes, I see fewer and fewer people I recognise from those days.
If I came back to live in Lewes, which is a nice thought, would I be labelled a DFL?
On 26 May 2016 at 11:02pm Ben wrote:
we moved here from London for the exact reasons you stated Earl of Lewes. we did work hard in our 20s in London, but couldn't afford to buy there, and then didn't want to live there and raise a family as its bloody awful, still continue to work hard and have managed to buy a very modest house to start a family in in this lovely town, wouldn't change a thing about it. parents don't have money so haven't or couldn't help us buy a house so we've earnt it and deserve it. totally in a different league to the privileged Chelsea tractor set who lets face it, all of us despise. and let's not forget the evil estate agents, yes Lewes Estates I'm looking at you, who overprice houses and tell lies to buyers to get them in bidding wars, trying to get on the housing ladder these days is incredibly stressful and hard so I congratulate anyone that's managed to achieve it without being handed it on a plate by mummy and daddy or who weren't born with a silver spoon in their mouths.
On 27 May 2016 at 9:15am Oppps wrote:
Pete Manyater.....surely it would be Up From Lewes....as Ringmer is more elevated?
On 27 May 2016 at 9:26am barn owl wrote:
@ Ben, well said!
this whole DFL thing is really only born out of this forum, of the countless people I have met since moving here 10 years ago, be they local, non local, wherever they have moved from, whenever this DFL tag is mentioned, it is laughed at as being utter rubbish and is just continued baiting by a very small minority of trolls on this forum. These are the same people who press the thumbs down on your posts, just ignore!
On 27 May 2016 at 12:21pm ClarifiedButler wrote:
The DFL phenomenon most certainly is a real and tangible thing quite independent from this forum. The term DFL clearly is about much more than simply moving to the town from London (or elsewhere), but an attitude and an expectation of what the town will provide. It seems clear that there is an increasing number of people in the town who use consumerism to create the pastiche of an idealised lifestyle.
On 27 May 2016 at 3:01pm barn owl wrote:
fair enough Clarified, but please lets agree that these people are still in the minority in a town full of open minded people who embrace the town and all it has to offer.
On 27 May 2016 at 3:10pm Helen Guilly wrote:
I agree, I do think that these particular 'DFL's that you mention are still in the minority as I've personally never met one all the time I've lived here. Everyone I've met has been perfectly reasonable and normal.
On 27 May 2016 at 5:40pm Blakey wrote:
Well said CB it's been going on in Sussex for decades, starting with the villages.
On 27 May 2016 at 6:17pm Celine wrote:
I've always loudly proclaimed the virtues of a pasty Old Bike! However, the DFL phenomenon is everywhere. I come from West Cornwall where, during the summer, the best bits are flooded by people in 4x4s with Kensington and Chelsea parking permits on them, living in their second homes and buying expensive champagne from the local shop! In one particularly beautiful estuary village they tried to stop the local fishermen getting a new landing quay because it would look ugly. Then it was pointed out that's the way the oysters they were so keen on are landed! These sorts of people are anywhere good to live because they have the money to buy there and it makes them arrogant, as well as greedy!
On 27 May 2016 at 10:00pm Patriotic Citizen wrote:
I always though DFL meant Definitely From Lewes. DFLs are easily recognised by their envy of their betters, intelligent and well-off people who choose to live in Lewes because it is convenient, apart from the annual annoyance of 'Bonfire', a tasteless little entertainment that seems to keep the council estate dwellers happy, not because of the fact that they were merly born here. Surely it is obvious that any Lewes person with intelligence or talent would have moved away years ago.
On 31 May 2016 at 7:35am Pythagoras wrote:
Barn owl, spot on