thelondonword.com was dreamt up in 2007 over a few pints at the Barley Mow boozer in Mayfair.

As devoted residents and established enthusiasts of this magnificent sprawling metropolis we – the urban Wordites – wanted a platform to share with our fellow inhabitants (and those who are not) our experiences in, and passions for, London town.

Not just the good, bad and downright ugly, but the joys (pubs, clubs, markets, pubs, theatre, galleries, pubs), the frustrations (traffic wardens, tube incarceration, Boris Johnson, Oxford Street on a Saturday), the wildness (Killing Kittens, Camden Market, the Good Mixer on a Friday night, Amy Winehouse) and the weirdness (the 02 Arena, Boris Johnson, ghosts on the tube, Amy Winehouse).

We like to think of our website as a home away from home for Londoners: a convivial nucleus from which our audience can indulge and divulge; read news, reviews, interviews, commentaries, daily postings, gossip and gabble; keep posted on events that Londoners – not tourists – are going to.

This isn’t a listings guide, this is a place for London’s vibrant virtual community to schmooze, share their views, chat and absorb daily postings on culture, fashion, food, booze, health, hedonism, shops, shows, weird folklore and unashamed scandal.

This is the word on the street: the London Word.