For the love of God can adults please stop saying uni

[CressidaEgg]

Let's reclaim the five syllable word. University. It grates to read MNers talking about their DC going off to "uni" or even about their own time at "uni". Just call it what it is: university.

Hoist by your own petard there OP, sorry Original Poster.

With kidz I have to fight AutoCorrect. Goes against the spirit of abbreviation.

Howyoalldoworkme and Rosewhitetips say it for me @Blaablaablaa

I was a university teacher and admissions tutor, by the way, so am not speaking from a position of ignorance about HE.

Rosewhitetips is right.
40 years ago only 10% of the population went to university.

Now it's 40%.

Of course there has been a drop in standards because the top 10% are by definition cleverer than the next 30% so degrees had to become easier to achieve.
This is why it matters more than ever to get into a good solid academically well-regarded course at a good solid academically well-regarded university

@ladyhooha neither am I. I'm an academic, an admissions tutor and I've previously worked in student recruitment and careers. My research area is HE, careers and student recruitment.

Those may be typical experiences in your institution but they don't represent the ones I've worked at and worked with

Of course there has been a drop in standards because the top 10% are by definition cleverer than the next 30% so degrees had to become easier to achieve

Um, no.

We had America exchange students when I was at... Errrrr... A higher education establishment. They all just called it 'school'.

OP are you pissed inebriated?

I went to Poly myself but now work at a Uni. We even refer to it as UoX in documents - the horror!

You remind me of a friend's mum who, if anyone telephoned and asked for Sam would be met by "there is no Sam here, however you may speak to Samantha..."

@infinite you're wrong. So wrong. A drop in standards is not responsible for the expansion of HE. A move from it being an elite system to something available to anyone who is capable is why we have more people going to uni.

Those of you saying you called it uni in the 80s - no you didn't!

Not quite sure how you know what the people at my uni called it in the 80s. Certainly all the people I went to uni with in the 80s called what it is, a uni. No memory loss here, but nice try OP.

I'm that old. Yes it was uni back then...

As a professional unicyclist, I support this motion and urge my fellow unicyclists to reclaim the prefix "uni" for our one wheeled chariots.

Meaning that the sentence "My DS issue off to uni!" suggests someone's son is off for a ride on the most noble of transports.

Saying “university” makes you sound like a right cleanshirt, like people who say “cigarettes” instead of cigs/fags/tabs/smokes or “alcohol” instead of booze/drink.

It was university in the 80s when I went. Perhaps uni if talking with someone currently going there such as your child, not otherwise.

Robert Lindsay's character in 'My Family' had a rant about this in one episode (sorry to admit to watching the blot on a fine actor's career).

It was uni in the 90s when I went and I can't stop now

No. Every time I type uni instead of university on my mobile I gain 5 seconds which I can put towards my research. Waste not, want not.

I agree. Uni is an annoying abbreviation. I only used it on here because everyone else did

I hate the phrase "off to uni" more than I can say. "off to university"sounds unbearably pompous though.

what about just, away at ......[name of university] instead of the ubiquitous sense of some altered state?

I'm glad you mentioned this. and I will stop saying "uni", especially with an australian accent (which is how I imagine it) from now on.

Another one here from the 80s who most definitely had never heard the word uni at that time.

I went to Cardiff Uni...

Uuuuuuuuuuunnnniiiiiiiiiiiiiii

If I was in an interview, I would say Cardiff University. But I'm not right now and MN is a place to relax.... sometimes... when the nest of vipers is being nice...

So...

Uuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnniiiiiiiii...

Come on OP, you can say it.... you know you want to loosen up... go crazy... be wild, be adventurous... cast off those grammatically correct shackles and say it! 😂😂😂😂😂

anything with an "i" or "ie" or "y" on the end sounds like a darling pet. like a "trunki" or "yuppy" or a "postie" or a "sarnie". Its a diminutive which is why it offends.
University isn't small and cuddly it's big and muscular.

I think it was an Australian invention. was it from Neighbours?

No, it wasn't and it wasn't.

I'm glad my research area was none of those things, Blaablaablaa. How unspeakably dreary that must be, when you could be reading books.

That aside, it may vary from one institution to another (though I sort of doubt it).

Also, LadyBaneGrey, I am glad to say I have never used any of those abbreviations in my life, other than "booze" as a joke. Though I've never heard the expression "cleanshirt", either...

YNBU OP. It grates on me too. I went to university in the 90s don't remember many people calling it uni then. I, like previous posters, first remember hearing it on Neighbours and Home and Away then it just gradually took over.
It feels like a childish way of speaking to me, like you can't properly say the whole word.
I'm turning into a right grumpy old woman in my middle age

How incredibly patronising @ladyhooha. Thankfully I work with academics who are supportive of colleagues areas of research...even if it isn’t their particular cup of tea.
Plus it’s anything but boring ....I essentially study people and how they make decisions. I’ve also had the pleasure of contributing to some wonderful widening participation initiatives. Again, anything but boring.