A Conversation for Pronouncing British Placenames

Oxford & Cambridge

Post 1

Mu Beta

'Tis not so!

Oxford's Magdalen college is pronounced 'Maudlin'.

Cambridge's Magdalene college should, by all rights, be pronounced 'Mag-de-leyn', because the spelling has been bastardized.

B


Oxford & Cambridge

Post 2

Mu Beta

Furthermore, the village of Over in Gloucestershire, which is most notable for having a socking great big queue of traffic in it between 7am and 9am every weekday morning, is rather entertainingly pronounced 'oover'.

B


Oxford & Cambridge

Post 3

Icy North

Do you have a definitive source for the Cambridge pronumciation of 'Magdalene'? Most Google hits on the first couple of pages seem to support both colleges being pronounced 'Maudlin'.

And do you ever drive through Oover at night?


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