SYMBOLS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

Study the cultural and social realia of the academic life in England. Note that the terms given below are especially used in the city of Cambridge, at the University of Cambridge.

Cambridge Slang

1st-8th Week The eight weeks in a full term (when lectures are run – supervisions can be arranged outside this time), a system frequently used in place of calendar dates. A Cambridge week starts on a Thursday and finishes on a Wednesday.

Alumni Plural for alumnus. Former students, many of whom are famous and distinguished, including Issac Newton, Charles Darwin, Lord Byron, Sylvia Plath, Stephen Hawking, Douglas Adams, Germaine Greer, to name but a few.

Apostles Secret society founded in 1820. Women accepted since 1978 when Carol Vorderman was enrolled. Notorious as recruiting ground for Communist traitors in the 1930s; nowadays more whimsical.

Bursar Person responsible for a college’s finances.

Bursary Means-tested financial aid offered by all colleges and the University to reduce the burden of tuition fees or living costs. Cambridge has a policy of not letting anyone leave due to financial need or difficulty.