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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

For the love of God can adults please stop saying uni

686 replies

CressidaEgg · 23/08/2018 09:09

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.

OP posts:
whattimeislove · 23/08/2018 10:12

OP - I'm with you! It grates on me and I don't know why!

Feefeetrixabelle · 23/08/2018 10:12

You’d have hated us at uni. We shortened every word possible library- became libs. Every building name was shortened as much as possible. Even bus became Buh. But weirdly sausage roll became saussison yum yum.

HoppingPavlova · 23/08/2018 10:13

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

Uhhmm, yes I did. We all did.

HollowTalk · 23/08/2018 10:14

Didn't "uni" come into use at the same time as fees?

Oakmaiden · 23/08/2018 10:14

I get told off by my children for calling it "College".

RoseWhiteTips · 23/08/2018 10:14

No one on Neighbours ever went to uni, though. Why would they use that abbreviation?

thecatneuterer · 23/08/2018 10:18

I was at university in the early 80s. No one called it uni. I thought that started in the 90s.

MissusGeneHunt · 23/08/2018 10:19

If Neighbours did start it, then fab (fabulous), because I bloody loved 80s Neighbours!!

I remember applying to uni in the late 80s, and calling it uni. Still do. Can't see what the problem is really....

DarlingNikita · 23/08/2018 10:20

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

Yes, sorry, what was I thinking, someone on the internet is bound to know more about my life than I do Hmm Confused Grin

BlackberryBramble · 23/08/2018 10:20

80s student here.

I heard Uni rarely, I would have expected the user was Australian (or had been on a sheep shearing gap year in the case of one guy I knew!)

Heard college a lot more as there was the Art College plus the local Technical college which also acted as A level college. Thus the vaguest and most neutral term was "going to college". "Going away to college" was you were off to University or Polytechnic in another area.

Thinking about it though, I did hear "Leeds Uni" "Manchester Uni" if you were distinguishing between Leeds Poly or Uni/ UMIST and Manchester Uni for example.

I'd probably still have reverted back to "the University and the Poly" if I wasn't giving the institution's name. It was nearly always "Poly". (Our Poly had such a good rep Wink it was a shame imho that we lost the category.)

RoseWhiteTips · 23/08/2018 10:20

Seriously, though the abbrev has been around for aaaaages. So you are wrong, OP.

happymummy12345 · 23/08/2018 10:20

Why? It's o my shortening a word.

flowery · 23/08/2018 10:21

”I don't recall uni being a thing until the days of Neighbours.”

Yes. When I was at university in the 1990’s the only time you’d hear ‘uni’ was on Australian soap operas.

RoseWhiteTips · 23/08/2018 10:21

Love that the sainted OP is telling other people they did not use the term in the 80s. Haha

WeirdCatLady · 23/08/2018 10:23

Verily and forsooth, dear maiden, If my memory recalls in the correct manner, back in the year nineteen hundred and eighty something my associates and I did partake of the shortened vernacular word ‘Uni’. Grin

TheFaerieQueene · 23/08/2018 10:24

@ringwood. Stop it! 😜

BlackberryBramble · 23/08/2018 10:24

I was early to mid 80s talking about this stuff.

The Great Uni Vocab shift was happening around us as we can see from this thread!

BlaaBlaaBlaa · 23/08/2018 10:25

Me and my husband work at a uni so you'd hate our house as we use it a lot!! It's been around for ages....staff, students, teachers etc all tend to say uni. It's not going away 😂

derxa · 23/08/2018 10:25

I went to the University of Glasgow and the University of Cambridge.

Nevermindhey · 23/08/2018 10:25

I didn’t use it in the 80s. Don’t think anyone did.

Nevermindhey · 23/08/2018 10:26

I mean people I know didn’t.

RoseWhiteTips · 23/08/2018 10:26

“dear maiden”

😂😂😂

Oakmaiden · 23/08/2018 10:27

Thinking about it though, when I "were a girl" (late 80s) we did shorten Polytechnic to Poly, so it wouldn't surprise me if some people shortened university to uni.

?I know we shortened polytechnic because the local one was Wallisdown Polytechnic and we all called it the Wally Poly...

RoseWhiteTips · 23/08/2018 10:27

Oh I see a couple of stealth boasters are out and about...!😂

Slimmingsnake · 23/08/2018 10:28

Lucky you ,that's all you have to worry about