(British) Any traditional British university other than Oxford or Cambridge, especially one founded in the Victorian age in a large city.
(British) Any traditional British university other than Oxford or Cambridge, especially one founded in the Victorian age in a large city.
It took a while before he told me his background: a happy childhood; two degrees—a bachelor's from a red brick university and an Oxbridge PhD; a relatively high-flying job in academia that he liked rather than loved.
"red brick university" means: Any traditional British university other than Oxford or Cambridge, especially one founded in the Victorian age in a large city.. This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
Add your own interpretation of "red brick university".
UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
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(British) The University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and various universities in London collectively, in contrast to redbrick universities.
(rare, British) The universities of Oxford, the Cambridge and Durham collectively.
(UK) Any of several universities founded in the United Kingdom in the 1960s in the era of the Robbins Report on higher education.
Resembling or characteristic of brick.
"red brick university" means: Any traditional British university other than Oxford or Cambridge, especially one founded in the Victorian age in a large city.. This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
"red brick university" means: Any traditional British university other than Oxford or Cambridge, especially one founded in the Victorian age in a large city.. Register: neutral, standard English, usable in most everyday contexts. Note the regional or dialect label (British) — usage may sound odd outside that variety. A common non-native mistake is to use the word in the wrong register, or to assume one fixed meaning when it is actually polysemous; always check the surrounding register and the audience before producing it yourself. In formal writing, prefer a neutral synonym or a short descriptive phrase, and use this word only when you have heard or read it being used naturally in a comparable context.
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(UK, colloquial) Resembling or characteristic of the English city of Oxford.