There’s A Reason It’s Pronounced “Maudlin…”

 

Telegraph breaking news: Queen becomes latest victim of cancel culture as portrait is removed from Oxford college.

The Queen has become the latest victim of cancel culture after students at an Oxford College voted to remove her portrait.

The Queen’s likeness hung in the middle common room (MCR) of Magdalen College, which has a long association with members of the Royal family.

MCR president Matthew Katzman told The Telegraph: “It has been taken down. It was decided [emphasis mine, and note: typical passive-(voice)-aggressive] to leave the common room neutral. That was what this was about.”

“The college will have plenty of depictions of various things, but the common room is meant to be a space for all to feel welcome.”  [LOL. Unless you’re a fan of the Queen, apparently.]

The vote was called in the interest of domestic and international students who might object to the imagery.

Several of my relatives are British taxpayers who contribute to the foolishness that embodies 21st-century Oxford University.  Where do they go to get their money*  back?

Magdalen has indicated it will not intervene to reverse the decision, despite the long association between the British taxpayer royalty and the college, which the Queen herself visited in 1948 to receive an Honorary Degree from Oxford University, and again in 2008 to mark its 550th anniversary.

Sir John Hayes, chairman of the Common Sense Group of Conservative MPs, said: “The sad thing is that you would think that the people of Magdalen College Oxford are reasonably bright, and this decision would suggest that they are not.

Of course, they’re not.  As Mr. She was fond of saying, “they’re students.  They don’t know very much, and they’re here to learn.  It’s our job to educate them, not to celebrate the immature and childish ideas they brought with them.”

Crimenutely.

How maudlin.  Not to say, moronic.  Or, even, dare I say,  idiotic.

*Millions and billions of British pounds.  At what point should those taxpayers expect a grateful note of appreciation from those whose paths, from all parts of the world, they’ve greased in the furtherance of an academic degree from one of the most prestigious universities in the world?  (Pro Tip:  British taxpayers; don’t hold your breath.)

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  1. Hoyacon Member
    Hoyacon
    @Hoyacon

    The first mistake was allowing students to vote on this.

    • #1
  2. Hang On Member
    Hang On
    @HangOn

    Almost sixty years ago, the Oxford Union said they wouldn’t defend King and Country. More of the same.

    • #2
  3. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    Hang On (View Comment):

    Almost sixty years ago, the Oxford Union said they wouldn’t defend King and Country. More of the same.

    I think that vote was in the ’30’s.

    • #3
  4. StoughtonObserver Inactive
    StoughtonObserver
    @Bruce W Banerdt

    Hoyacon (View Comment):

    The first mistake was allowing students to vote on this.

    The 2nd was actually listening to these idiots.

    • #4
  5. She Member
    She
    @She

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Hang On (View Comment):

    Almost sixty years ago, the Oxford Union said they wouldn’t defend King and Country. More of the same.

    I think that vote was in the ’30’s.

    Yep.  1933.  So almost 90 years ago.  Time flies, etc.

    • #5
  6. KentForrester Coolidge
    KentForrester
    @KentForrester

    So when Oxford students look up at a portrait of the queen these days, they shudder and  say, “I just don’t feel welcome here. Not welcome at all.  No, not at all.”

    What twits!  

    Where are the adults in charge these days?  Cowering in the hall closets like a bunch of fearful children?  Grow a pair, you fools, and then grow up. 

    • #6
  7. Rōnin Coolidge
    Rōnin
    @Ronin

    Long live the Queen.  Now for some good news, Macron gets slapped in face: https://nypost.com/2021/06/08/emmanuel-macron-slapped-in-face-on-visit-to-french-village/ 

    • #7
  8. KentForrester Coolidge
    KentForrester
    @KentForrester

    So why is it pronounced “Maudlin”?  Now don’t make me feel dumb like my wife does.

    • #8
  9. KentForrester Coolidge
    KentForrester
    @KentForrester

    Oh, I know.  I bet Magdalen College is pronounced “Maudlin.”

    Never mind. 

    • #9
  10. KentForrester Coolidge
    KentForrester
    @KentForrester

    Wait, that doesn’t make sense.  Maudlin?  

    • #10
  11. Caryn Thatcher
    Caryn
    @Caryn

    Shameful.

    • #11
  12. Charlotte Member
    Charlotte
    @Charlotte

    College students are so…tiresome. This is true worldwide, apparently.

    • #12
  13. Charlotte Member
    Charlotte
    @Charlotte

    KentForrester (View Comment):

    Oh, I know. I bet Magdalen College is pronounced “Maudlin.”

    Never mind.

    Is that really how it’s pronounced? It’s not “Mag-duh-lin”?

    That’s right up there with Woolfardisworthy.

    • #13
  14. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    Charlotte (View Comment):

    KentForrester (View Comment):

    Oh, I know. I bet Magdalen College is pronounced “Maudlin.”

    Never mind.

    Is that really how it’s pronounced? It’s not “Mag-duh-lin”?

    That’s right up there with Woolfardisworthy.

    It really is pronounced maudlin.

    Because: The English.

    • #14
  15. Jim McConnell Member
    Jim McConnell
    @JimMcConnell

    KentForrester (View Comment):

    Wait, that doesn’t make sense. Maudlin?

    English people are unable to correctly pronounce many words in the English language; for example, Leichestershire. I have a friend from there, and he insists upon calling it “Lester.”

    • #15
  16. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    She: At what point should those taxpayers expect a grateful note of appreciation from those whose paths, from all parts of the world, they’ve greased in the furtherance of an academic degree from one of the most prestigious universities in the world? 

    Um, about that.

    Also, Dinah Rose, the president of Magdalen College:

    “Here are some facts about Magdalen College and HM the Queen. The Middle Common Room is an organisation of graduate students. They don’t represent the College. A few years ago, in about 2013, they bought a print of a photo of the Queen to decorate their common room.

    “They recently voted to take it down. Both of these decisions are their own to take, not the College’s. Magdalen strongly supports free speech and political debate, and the MCR’S right to autonomy. Maybe they’ll vote to put it up again, maybe they won’t. Meanwhile, the photo will be safely stored.”

    Rose added: “Being a student is about more than studying. It’s about exploring and debating ideas. It’s sometimes about provoking the older generation. Looks like that isn’t so hard to do these days.”

    • #16
  17. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Charlotte (View Comment):

    KentForrester (View Comment):

    Oh, I know. I bet Magdalen College is pronounced “Maudlin.”

    Never mind.

    Is that really how it’s pronounced? It’s not “Mag-duh-lin”?

    That’s right up there with Woolfardisworthy.

    It really is pronounced maudlin.

    Because: The English.

    Ought to be “moe-ron.”

    • #17
  18. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    Percival (View Comment):

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Charlotte (View Comment):

    KentForrester (View Comment):

    Oh, I know. I bet Magdalen College is pronounced “Maudlin.”

    Never mind.

    Is that really how it’s pronounced? It’s not “Mag-duh-lin”?

    That’s right up there with Woolfardisworthy.

    It really is pronounced maudlin.

    Because: The English.

    Ought to be “moe-ron.”

    Though all this shock from the nation that gave us ‘sup? is a bit….

    • #18
  19. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Charlotte (View Comment):

    KentForrester (View Comment):

    Oh, I know. I bet Magdalen College is pronounced “Maudlin.”

    Never mind.

    Is that really how it’s pronounced? It’s not “Mag-duh-lin”?

    That’s right up there with Woolfardisworthy.

    It really is pronounced maudlin.

    Because: The English.

    Ought to be “moe-ron.”

    Though all this shock from the nation that gave us ‘sup? is a bit….

    It is notable that the Oxford student body isn’t any brighter now than they were in 1933.

    • #19
  20. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Jim McConnell (View Comment):

    KentForrester (View Comment):

    Wait, that doesn’t make sense. Maudlin?

    English people are unable to correctly pronounce many words in the English language; for example, Leichestershire. I have a friend from there, and he insists upon calling it “Lester.”

    Worcestershire sauce.

    • #20
  21. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Charlotte (View Comment):

    KentForrester (View Comment):

    Oh, I know. I bet Magdalen College is pronounced “Maudlin.”

    Never mind.

    Is that really how it’s pronounced? It’s not “Mag-duh-lin”?

    That’s right up there with Woolfardisworthy.

    It really is pronounced maudlin.

    Because: The English.

    Ought to be “moe-ron.”

    Though all this shock from the nation that gave us ‘sup? is a bit….

    Yeah.  I always thought it was pretty stupid, too.

    • #21
  22. James Lileks Contributor
    James Lileks
    @jameslileks

    It will be enough to remove all vestiges of the past and wall it off, so everyone knows that things on the other side of the high brick wall are Bad, and one need no more than that.

    • #22
  23. She Member
    She
    @She

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Also, Dinah Rose, the president of Magdalen College:

    “Here are some facts about Magdalen College and HM the Queen. The Middle Common Room is an organisation of graduate students. They don’t represent the College. A few years ago, in about 2013, they bought a print of a photo of the Queen to decorate their common room.

    They recently voted to take it down.”

    LOL.  Reminds me of that Mark Twain story:

    When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.

    At Oxford though, time, and smarts, seem to be running backwards…

    • #23
  24. She Member
    She
    @She

    KentForrester (View Comment):

    Wait, that doesn’t make sense. Maudlin?

    From the college website:

    People are regularly surprised at why Magdalen College is pronounced “Maudlin”. This charter offers a reason why. Waynflete decreed that his College should be known as “Collegium beatae Mariae Magdalenae” in Latin and “Maudelayne College” in English. In the 15th century, English speakers called St. Mary Magdalene “St. Mary Maudelayne” (or “Mawdelayne”), without the “g” – like “Madeleine” in French. It was only later that we put the “g” back. Magdalen College, however, like Magdalene College, Cambridge, has preserved the old pronunciation of her name.

     

    • #24
  25. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    She (View Comment):
    At Oxford though, time, and smarts, seem to be running backwards…

    Meh. Were they wise when they put the picture up? I doubt it. 

    • #25
  26. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    She (View Comment):

    KentForrester (View Comment):

    Wait, that doesn’t make sense. Maudlin?

    From the college website:

    People are regularly surprised at why Magdalen College is pronounced “Maudlin”. This charter offers a reason why. Waynflete decreed that his College should be known as “Collegium beatae Mariae Magdalenae” in Latin and “Maudelayne College” in English. In the 15th century, English speakers called St. Mary Magdalene “St. Mary Maudelayne” (or “Mawdelayne”), without the “g” – like “Madeleine” in French. It was only later that we put the “g” back. Magdalen College, however, like Magdalene College, Cambridge, has preserved the old pronunciation of her name.

     

    Perhaps, ma’am, you could explain Southwark and High Holburn?  

    • #26
  27. She Member
    She
    @She

    Zafar (View Comment):

    She (View Comment):

    KentForrester (View Comment):

    Wait, that doesn’t make sense. Maudlin?

    From the college website:

    People are regularly surprised at why Magdalen College is pronounced “Maudlin”. This charter offers a reason why. Waynflete decreed that his College should be known as “Collegium beatae Mariae Magdalenae” in Latin and “Maudelayne College” in English. In the 15th century, English speakers called St. Mary Magdalene “St. Mary Maudelayne” (or “Mawdelayne”), without the “g” – like “Madeleine” in French. It was only later that we put the “g” back. Magdalen College, however, like Magdalene College, Cambridge, has preserved the old pronunciation of her name.

    Perhaps, ma’am, you could explain Southwark and High Holburn?

    Unlikely.  I couldn’t really explain “maudlin” either, till I looked it up…

    One either absorbs such things by osmosis, or one doesn’t.   Trying to find the way, or the rules, is an exercise in frustration, and one should never make assumptions. (See Leicester vs. Cirencester.  Or the fact that people from Manchester are called Mancunians, whereas  people from Lancaster are called Lancastrians.)  Most of the time, I think that if there’s any logic anywhere in the story, it lies in the history of English and its roots in so many other languages.

    It is a good, and quick, means of identifying Outlanders, though.

    Just as, around here, anyone who doesn’t pronounce the local towns of Versailles, Charleroi and Dubois, as “Ver-sails,” “Sharle-roy” and “Du-boys,” immediately marks himself as Not One Of Us.

    • #27
  28. EB Thatcher
    EB
    @EB

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Charlotte (View Comment):

    KentForrester (View Comment):

    Oh, I know. I bet Magdalen College is pronounced “Maudlin.”

    Never mind.

    Is that really how it’s pronounced? It’s not “Mag-duh-lin”?

    That’s right up there with Woolfardisworthy.

    It really is pronounced maudlin.

    Because: The English.

    Just like “Cholmondeley” is pronounced “Chumley.”  Or Leicester = Lester.

    • #28
  29. Hang On Member
    Hang On
    @HangOn

    Matthew Katzman, who is the epitome of the American privileged elite, is behind this.

    • #29
  30. Caryn Thatcher
    Caryn
    @Caryn

    She (View Comment):

    Zafar (View Comment):

    She (View Comment):

    KentForrester (View Comment):

    Wait, that doesn’t make sense. Maudlin?

    From the college website:

    People are regularly surprised at why Magdalen College is pronounced “Maudlin”. This charter offers a reason why. Waynflete decreed that his College should be known as “Collegium beatae Mariae Magdalenae” in Latin and “Maudelayne College” in English. In the 15th century, English speakers called St. Mary Magdalene “St. Mary Maudelayne” (or “Mawdelayne”), without the “g” – like “Madeleine” in French. It was only later that we put the “g” back. Magdalen College, however, like Magdalene College, Cambridge, has preserved the old pronunciation of her name.

    Perhaps, ma’am, you could explain Southwark and High Holburn?

    Unlikely. I couldn’t really explain “maudlin” either, till I looked it up…

    One either absorbs such things by osmosis, or one doesn’t. Trying to find the way, or the rules, is an exercise in frustration, and one should never make assumptions. (See Leicester vs. Cirencester. Or the fact that people from Manchester are called Mancunians, whereas people from Lancaster are called Lancastrians.) Most of the time, I think that if there’s any logic anywhere in the story, it lies in the history of English and its roots in so many other languages.

    It is a good, and quick, means of identifying Outlanders, though.

    Just as, around here, anyone who doesn’t pronounce the local towns of Versailles, Charleroi and Dubois, as “Ver-sails,” “Sharle-roy” and “Du-boys,” immediately marks himself as Not One Of Us.

    Are you in Pennsylvania?

    • #30
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