To ask do you say reading or studying: University

[laurzj82]

Hi,

I am just embarking on my first degree at the age of 35 and it got me thinking about people who say that they read xyz subkect at university.

I had never come across the expression before joining Mumsnet and have always referred to it as studying. Am I saying it wrong?

Is it used only for certain subjects or some universities or are the terms interchangeable?

Tia

They always used to say "I'm reading history" on University Challenge didn't they? But nowadays just seem to say "studying science" or "doing geography".

I'd see "reading" and "studying" as interchangeable in this context, but reading as a more old-fashionied term.

I've only ever heard 'reading' on university challenge. I don't think anyone says reading in Scotland instead of studying.

I'd think pretentious wannabe Oxbridge twat if I heard someone say "I'm reading x' thankfully it is vanishingly rare.

Reading sounds a bit wanky. Studying is fine.

Reading.

I suppose you study at an ex-poly?

tin hat<

I always say studying, reading sounds too posh tbh, maybe fine if you're at Oxbridge but not anywhere else and it sounds pretentious

It should be reading but I think that sounds wank pants so don't use it.

I say read for the headline subject and study for the specific papers/topics: eg "reading English" and "studying the development of the novel in the nineteenth century".

I think "read" is very British, possibly very English. "Study" is more international.

Studying. I'm Australian.

Never heard "reading" before.

"Reading" sounds very Oxbridge to me. Don't hear it much round my non-Oxbridge university.

Isn't "reading" a specific academic term? As you can be a post graduate "Reader"

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reader_(academic_rank)

Reading in the context of academia is quite specific. There is even an academic rank of "reader" which is one down from a professor.

It's an old fashioned term but totally appropriate.

Reading

(Oxbridge)Reading or studying or doing, depending on who I'm talking to. Using a word which is common in the context in which you have often heard it or used it does not make you a 'wannabe Oxbridge twat' and it is (or certainly was) the norm to say 'reading' at Oxbridge, but most people adapt their language a little, depending on the company they're in.

Agree with pp that 'ready' sounds pretentious and I've only heard Oxbridge students use it in the context of a taught degree. As already mentioned, you do also get academic 'readers'.

Mostly if it comes up in conversation now I use the non-specific verb 'did' - I did Modern Languages. But historically and at my university 'read' was the correct term so it would have been strange not to use it. It will probably fall out of use completely apart from at a couple of universities in the future.

*reading not ready! Bloody phone autocorrect

Either is ok. What isn't ok is to sneer at people who use a correct word in an appropriate context. Why would you do that? It makes me imagine a group of 'mean girls' saying, "Ooh, get her! She's reading Philosophy!"

TBF in RL I have only ever heard the expression 'studying'.

Reading is a perfectly correct term and it's what we tend to use (in a redbrick!! I know! We're not even RG!), but studying or doing get the point across well enough.

"Isn't "reading" a specific academic term? As you can be a post graduate "Reader""

Again, only at Oxbridge afaik.

We have quite a few Oxbridge graduates working with us, but it's that thing about adapting language that Eolian mentioned: you notice that everybody else says something else so you tweak your language slightly.

Thanks everyone. I thought reading might sound better but I am from a very WC background so anyone who knows me would think I'm being a knob

If either is fine I will stick to studying. I didn't want to say studying and people think I was an idiot!

Ah, cross-post with Susan, and I see reading is actually used elsewhere. Take that back then.

I can't honestly see that it matters that much which word is used.

The term "reading" is older and dates to the time when universities weren't seen as a place of "teaching" so much as being a place where someone bright could go and be in the presence of all the recorded knowlege on any topic and you basically would spend three years reading, and would basically be self-taught. I don't think the term is restricted to oxbridge but is probably more likely to be used in older institutions and in more essay-based subjects.