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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 taxpayerroyalty 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.)
Published in General
In Kentucky, they pronounce Versailles as “Ver-sails. They also pronounce Pennyroyal as Pennyrile.
In Georgia, the town of Houston is pronounced “House-ton” and an Atlanta road is “House-ton Mill Rd.” Cairo is pronounced “Kay-ro.” Others, too, but I can’t bring them to mind.
Also St. John (sinjin) and Taliferro (Tolliver).
Heh if the students are getting rid of things how about the name of the College and this incredibly old pronunciation (which was stolen from the Church). How about just getting rid of the college which is existentially unfair to those who don’t have/can’t get degrees. Or getting rid of England. Or …..
Yes. South and West of Pittsburgh.
To better days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AS-dCdYZbo
But in what I consider some good news, the university administration took a pretty hard line, according to reporting from Daily Wire:
Apparently the college is attended mostly by students from outside the United Kingdom. Of course it was an American idiot who got the ball rolling. If the students are so “triggered” by a symbol of British structure, why the heck did they choose to go to the U.K. in the first place? Anyone who goes to the U.K. should expect to see pictures of the queen and other trappings of British history and culture. If you’re not a resident subject of the United Kingdom, and you are bothered by the trappings of British history and culture . . . don’t go to the United Kingdom.
In New York, I was only a little disheartened that Monticello was pronounced Monti-sello, but confused that Delhi was pronounced Del-high.
Here St. Nicolas is pronounced three ways, the most common is Sinniklus.
This reminds me so much of my student days in London with other American students. They would constantly complain about how things weren’t like in the States. To me it was really irksome and I quit sticking around with most of them. Yeah, things were different. So what? Get over it and enjoy what was unique. The reason those students are there is because of the pomp, circumstance and the unique opportunity they are afforded. They just eliminated some of that to their detriment.
It took me a while to get used to Sinjin when I listened to Jane Eyre.
If I recall correctly, Oxford, along with Cambridge, were prized hunting grounds for KGB spy recruiters during the cold war. It was recently reported that there are now Chinese recruits in the UK university system. There must be something in the air on those campuses. It makes me wonder if US academia isn’t involved in the same skullduggery at our own “posh” universities.
Yes! Five spies from Cambridge: Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, and John Cairncross. I don’t think that (at the time) the KGB was as successful at Oxford.
And I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re right about efforts to recruit within the US. Certainly, the field is ripe for the pickings..
Yes, the “Cambridge Five” were the traitorous gold standard, and, as you note, there was less success at Oxford but the attempts were there. There is a lot of controversy around the well-connected Bernard Floud, who was later elected to Parliament and who has a rather interesting story culminating in suicide.
I don’t think you need to wonder.
Oxford produces Prime Ministers. Cambridge produces gay Soviet spies.