"Twerking" and "selfie" added to Oxford Dictionary of Enlgish

Lost in a wave of modern lingo? Allow Oxford Dictionary of English to resolve this problem. "Twerking" and "selfie" are the latest additions to be added to this authoritative collection if English words.

Twerking has seen a meteoric rise in its uses, with Oxford Dictionaries Online (ODO) saying the word, borrowed from hip hop culture, having been present for nearly 20 years, had now find itself into everyday conversation. Selfie refers to the pouty self-portrait normally taken with a smartphone. Taking a selfie while twerking? That's just obscene.


Twerk
Pronunciation: /twəːk/
verb
[no object] informal
dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance:
just wait till they catch their daughters twerking to this song
twerk it girl, work it girl
Origin:

1990s: probably an alteration of work



Selfie
Pronunciation: /ˈsɛlfi/
(also selfy)
noun (plural selfies)
informal
a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website:
occasional selfies are acceptable, but posting a new picture of yourself every day isn’t necessary
Origin:

early 21st century: from self + -ie

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"Studying at Oxford just became worth it after seeing John Mayer at the Union today! "

On October 25th the Oxford Union played host to John Mayer. The list of people invited to speak at the Oxford Union is not just reserved for those academics with their breakfast firmly stuck in their long beards. Oxford has a great reputation of having modern celebrities speak to the students; including Michael Douglas, Martin Sheen, John Bon Jovi and even Barry White!

Other leading figures from around the world to have addressed the Union include Senator Robert Kennedy, Malcolm X, Richard Nixon, Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein and the Dalai Lama.

While admission to the Union is not available to the general public, with a private tour of Oxford we can easily incorporate the Union, visit it's location and provide more details, including a debate which lead to international outrage.

For more information on previous speakers, please click here.

Image source. 

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Balliol College and It's Female Co-founder

One of the oldest colleges at Oxford has a rather interesting history behind it's creation, which is just coming to light. While it's true, John De Balliol was spurned into establishing the prestigious institution in 1263 after insulting the Bishop of Durham, the lesser known character in this story is Dervorguilla of Galloway, his widow.

Perhaps of more interest than her rather peculiar name is that after her husband died, she kept his heart in a silver casket. Yes. In a silver casket.

She managed to out live John by 20 years, during which time she made sure that the intentions of John De Balliol were realised, and the college began to blossom. Originally set up for 20 students studying philosophy and mathematics, it would go onto be a beacon of light at the center of the University and its development over the centuries.

Your probably wondering, what happened to John's heart when she died? It was buried with Dervorguilla in Sweetheart Abbey in Scotland. For more tales of intrigue take our Oxford walking tour!

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Tolkien's Hobbits drawings published

To note that 75th anniversary of the publication of the book, around 20 illustrations done by Tolkien are being published. When the publishers HaerperCollins started the project they found over 100 illustrations buried in the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

"That was a surprise. I thought there might be 40-50 in total," said publisher David Brawn. "But there are 110 Hobbit pictures, about two dozen of which haven't been published before."



Some real Tolkien fans might remark that The Hobbit was actually first published in 1937, however Tolkien delivered the manuscript to his publishers in 1936, so this has allowed HarperCollins to start the anniversary celebrations.






For more information about Tolkien, take our Tolkien & C.S Lewis tour of Oxford which currently includes visiting the Magic Books exhibition at the Bodleian Library, which has some hand illustrations currently on display!




via The Guardian 

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Want to be a billionaire? Try Cambridge.

Cambridge University leads Europe and Asia in the number of billionaires among the university's alumni, a new report claims. 

Like stats? Dig into these: the combined wealth of Cambridge's billionaire alumni comes to $48 billion. Of note, Lord David Sainsbury [King's College], $1.1 billion and media magnate David Thomson [Selwyn] (otherwise known as the richest man in Canada), $20 billion. 

Though it's not all champagne and caviar for Cambridge; Harvard Universality with 52 billionaires, reaches a combined wealth of $205 billion, more than four times that of Cambridge. Having had the co-founder of Facebook Eduardo Saverin there, ($2.2 billion) helps. What about Mark Zuckerberg? Didn't graduate (sorry Harvard).

However, the same report from Wealth-X, shows Cambridge as 19th in the world for the number of ultra high net worth alumni, with 361 equating to $93 billion. Oxford comes in has only $51 billion with 401 ultra high net worth alumni. Yes, "only". 

We are now putting together a plan of how Footprints can include those 361 ultra high net worth individuals from Cambridge University on our free Oxford walking tour , and those 401 ultra high net worth individuals from Oxford University on our Cambridge walking tour! 

Source here. 

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Oxford Win THE Race

Oxford University won the 2013 University Boat Race after a battle with Cambridge University which lasted over  four miles, on a cold part of the River Thames. If  you’re familiar with the debate and controversy of last year's race, there was no repetition this year. Oxford were the first to every timing marker, in their boat, named Acer after the university's three-time Boat Race cox Acer Nethercott, who died in January from brain cancer , aged  35. 

“We answered everything they threw at us all the way round the bend,” said Cambridge president George Nash. “It was only in the last bit they managed to crack the race open and seal the deal.”

“It was harder than I thought it was going to be,” said Oxford president Alex Davidson. “I wasn’t happy until I could see Oskar’s hands in the air and knew we had done it. It’s such an incredible feeling. I’m so proud of the guys. It’s all been worth it.”

Source here. 

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Homeless man caught sleeping in Cambridge University library, after SIX WEEKS!

If you ask some students, they may think that sleeping in a library is actually the best thing to do. However, the authorities at Cambridge, took a different attitude. After tailgating students who were entering the library for late night study groups, a homeless man would then pretend to look for a book. Unfortunately, the jig was up after they soon realised he always wore the same clothes...and proceeded to snore. He did manage to last 6 weeks though.

Oh well, whether it is in indictment on the boring books, or of the terrible support to homeless people, we know that no one will be sleeping on our Oxford Literary Tour!

More information about the story here. 

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Hidden manuscript from 1598, published

Hidden Manuscript From 1598, Published

The Bodleian Library in Oxford has a new addition to its impressive collection. Deep in the bowls of Burford Church some of the first works by Elizabeth Cary were found in 1970s. Finally this manuscript has no been published. The piece, which is translation from French of Orelius, a world atlas, is now being kept in the Bodleian Library.

Dr Lesley Peterson notes that it "is very fragile. It is being preserved in a climate-controlled space". The magic of the Bodleian seems like a suitable environment for the work of a woman who is credited for having written the first original tragedy in English by a Woman. Dr Peterson has a deep knowledge of the writer, having spent 10 years researching the writer, and factors which influence her writing.

Find out more about Oxford and it's literary connections on a private Oxford literary tour!

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Oxford Magic and Mystery

Oxford Magic and Mystery

People come to Oxford to see the Harry Potter film locations and hear eerie tales of ghosts and weird and wonderful goings-on in past centuries. But fans of magic - the Hogwarts variety and others - might be interested to know that Oxford has links with real magicians, alchemists and mystics of the past. In the 13th century Roger Bacon, philosopher and early scientist, practised alchemy in his laboratory at Folly Bridge, and is supposed to have invented gunpowder and the telescope long before anyone else in Europe. The renaissance scholar and mystic, Giordano Bruno, came and lectured in Oxford in the 1580's, trying to convince the learned doctors of the university of his theories about the universe and his idea that there was an infinite number of worlds inhabited by intelligent beings. Unfortunately they weren't impressed and didn't offer him the teaching job he was after, so he went back to Italy - a big mistake, as he was tried and burnt at
the stake there for heresy by the Catholic church.

Elias Ashmole, founder of the Ashmolean Museum, was a fan of alchemy  and astrology, and if you go into the Old Ashmolean (now the Museum of the History of Science) and turn left at the entrance, you will find a cabinet with some strange magical objects in it that belonged to Doctor John Dee - famous astronomer, astrologer and occultist in the reign of Elizabeth I, including his 'magic table' and crystal ball with which he conversed with spirits and angels in his search for ultimate knowledge. His skills helped him choose the most auspicious date for Elizabeth's coronation - clearly very successfully, as she reigned gloriously for many years and survived assassination attempts and invasions - but unfortunately they didn't work for himself as well, as his house with its great collection of books was ransacked by a mob while he was away in Europe seeking the Philosopher's Stone, the Queen never gave him the plum job he was hoping for, and he ended up broke and destitute, living on into the time of James I and possibly ending up as the model for Shakespeare's Prospero, in 'The Tempest'.

 Which just shows that magic doesn't always produce the results you expect - be careful, all you Harry Potter fans! Why not take a Harry Potter Tour of Oxford, to find out more about the Oxford magic and mystery?

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Oxford in the Snow

Oxford in the Snow

After a summer and autumn of massive rainfall and flooding, Oxford is now under a thick blanket of snow - a bit of a relief, really! It does make daily life a bit more of an effort, but the kids love it! The other day on Port Meadow, the huge water-meadow by the river north of the city, they were all out with their sleighs, toboggans, bits of plastic and skateboards (!) hurtling down the slope by the railway, falling over, getting covered in snow and soaking wet, and having a whale of a time! Also, of course, the snow greatly enhances the beautiful architecture of our city - all the ancient Gothic college buildings and majestic churches have many nooks and crannies for the snow to lodge in, which brings out the detail, the gargoyles are crowned with icicles, and the whole effect is somehow even more ancient and timeless than ever. Fantastic for photography. More snow is forecast for the next week, but through it all the dauntless and intrepid guides of Footprints Tours will be soldiering on with the daily free tours, plus Harry Potter tours, literary tours and other delights, regardless of blizzards and tempests! So dress up warm, bring your crampons, skis, sledges etc. with you if you like, and you can come and join us!

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