What nickname do Oxford students use when referring to Cambridge University?
Answer: "The Other Place" (It is considered bad luck or just rude to say the "C" word!).
What do Oxford students call their teachers/professors?
Answer: Dons.
What is the term for the formal academic dress worn by students during exams?
Answer: Sub-fusc.
What do students call the college staff members who clean their rooms?
Answer: Scouts.
If a student is "sent down," what has happened to them?
Answer: They have been expelled (or suspended).
What is the name of the pigeon hole where students receive their mail?
Answer: A pidge.
What do students call the exams taken at the end of their first year?
Answer: Prelims or Mods.
What is the name of the "party" organized by a college?
Answer: A Bop (Big Open Party).
What is the slang term for a Freshman student?
Answer: A Fresher.
What is the nickname for the Bodleian Library?
Answer: The Bod.
What do you call a student who attends "The Other Place" (Cambridge)?
Answer: A Tab (short for Cantabrigian).
What is the name of the monthly bill students receive from their college?
Answer: Battels.
What is the act of propelling a boat with a long pole called?
Answer: Punting.
What is "Matriculation"?
Answer: The ceremony where you officially become a member of the university.
What do students commonly call the Radcliffe Camera?
Answer: The Rad Cam.
What is a "Blue"?
Answer: An athlete who competes in a top-level match against Cambridge.
What is the Oxford Union famous for?
Answer: Debating.
Which river runs through Oxford (hint: it’s not just the Thames)?
Answer: The Cherwell (pronounced Char-well).
What local name is given to the River Thames as it passes through Oxford?
Answer: The Isis.
What is "Trashing"?
Answer: The messy tradition of throwing confetti, foam, or food at students who just finished their final exams.
Which Oxford college dining hall inspired the Great Hall in Harry Potter?
Answer: Christ Church.
Which library was used as the "Restricted Section" in the Harry Potter films?
Answer: Duke Humfrey’s Library (in the Bodleian).
Which famous tree at New College was Draco Malfoy turned into a ferret under?
Answer: The Holm Oak tree.
The Divinity School was used as which room in the Harry Potter movies?
Answer: The Hogwarts Infirmary (Hospital Wing).
Which Oxford author wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?
Answer: Lewis Carroll.
What was Lewis Carroll’s real job at Oxford?
Answer: He was a Mathematics Don (Lecturer).
Which "real" person was Alice in Wonderland named after?
Answer: Alice Liddell (the daughter of the Dean of Christ Church).
In The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials), which college does Lyra live in?
Answer: Jordan College (a fictional version of Exeter College).
Which famous detective TV series is set in Oxford?
Answer: Inspector Morse (or Lewis / Endeavour).
Which Lord of the Rings author was a professor at Oxford?
Answer: J.R.R. Tolkien.
What is the name of the pub where Tolkien and C.S. Lewis used to meet?
Answer: The Eagle and Child.
What was the name of the writing group Tolkien and Lewis belonged to?
Answer: The Inklings.
Which Oxford college did Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) attend as a visiting student?
Answer: Worcester College.
Which James Bond actor studied at Oxford?
Answer: Rosamund Pike (Die Another Day) or Hugh Grant (not Bond, but in that world!). Correction: It is Rosamund Pike.
Which actor who played Mr. Bean has a Master’s degree from Oxford?
Answer: Rowan Atkinson.
Which film starring Hugh Grant features a student obsessed with poetry?
Answer: Privileged (1982) – though he is famous for Notting Hill, his first film was at Oxford.
The "Bridge of Sighs" in Oxford is a replica of a bridge in which Italian city?
Answer: Venice.
Which former US President attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar?
Answer: Bill Clinton.
Which famous scientist wrote A Brief History of Time and studied at Oxford?
Answer: Stephen Hawking.
Which British Prime Minister famously studied Chemistry at Oxford?
Answer: Margaret Thatcher.
Who is the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner, who also studied at Oxford?
Answer: Malala Yousafzai.
Which author wrote The Chronicles of Narnia?
Answer: C.S. Lewis.
Which famous rom-com actor went to New College, Oxford?
Answer: Hugh Grant.
Which creator of the World Wide Web studied at Oxford?
Answer: Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
Which famous children's author of The Cat in the Hat dropped out of Oxford?
Answer: Dr. Seuss.
How many British Prime Ministers have studied at Oxford?
Answer: Over 28 (including Boris Johnson, Theresa May, David Cameron).
Which famous poet wrote The Waste Land and attended Merton College?
Answer: T.S. Eliot.
Which Wilde author and playwright studied at Magdalen College?
Answer: Oscar Wilde.
Which celebrity chef known for River Cottage went to Oxford?
Answer: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
Which Monty Python member attended Oxford?
Answer: Michael Palin (or Terry Jones).
Is Oxford older or younger than Cambridge?
Answer: Older.
What century was the University of Oxford founded?
Answer: The 11th Century (teaching existed in 1096).
What is the nickname for the city of Oxford, coined by Matthew Arnold?
Answer: The City of Dreaming Spires.
What is the name of the main square in the city center?
Answer: Radcliffe Square (or Carfax is the central junction).
How many colleges make up Oxford University?
Answer: 39 (plus 5 Permanent Private Halls).
Which is generally considered the oldest college?
Answer: University College, Balliol, or Merton (it is debated!).
Which college was the first to accept women?
Answer: Lady Margaret Hall.
What is the "Carfax Tower"?
Answer: The remains of a 13th-century church in the center of town.
Why is there a statue of a "Martyr" in the middle of the street (St Giles)?
Answer: The Martyrs' Memorial commemorates three bishops burned at the stake.
What famous museum in Oxford is the oldest public museum in the UK?
Answer: The Ashmolean Museum.
Which Oxford landmark was built to house the university press?
Answer: The Clarendon Building.
Where are the Crown Jewels of the University kept?
Answer: The Ashmolean Museum (some parts) or technically colleges hold their own treasures.
What is the "Sheldonian Theatre" used for?
Answer: Ceremonies like Graduation and Matriculation (not plays!).
Which King made Oxford his capital during the Civil War?
Answer: King Charles I.
Did Oxford get bombed during World War II?
Answer: No, it was largely spared (rumor says Hitler wanted it for his capital).
What animal does the college "Corpus Christi" have a golden statue of?
Answer: A Pelican.
Which college owns a herd of deer?
Answer: Magdalen College.
What happens on "May Morning" (May 1st) at 6:00 AM?
Answer: A choir sings from the top of Magdalen Tower.
What unusual animal is kept at the Oxford Museum of Natural History?
Answer: The most complete remains of a Dodo bird.
There is a "Shark" crashing into a house in which Oxford suburb?
Answer: Headington (The Headington Shark).
Which college holds a "Tortoise Race" every year?
Answer: Corpus Christi College.
How long is the "Time Ceremony" at Merton College?
Answer: 1 hour (students walk backwards to turn back time when clocks change).
What is the "Great Tom"?
Answer: A massive bell at Christ Church college.
How many times does Great Tom ring every night at 9:05 PM?
Answer: 101 times.
Why does Great Tom ring at 9:05 PM instead of 9:00 PM?
Answer: Because Oxford is technically 5 minutes west of Greenwich Mean Time (Oxford Time).
What is forbidden to walk on in the college quadrangles (quads)?
Answer: The grass (unless you are a Don).
Which college has a door that is said to inspire the door in Narnia?
Answer: St Mary’s Passage (The door with the fawn carvings).
What is the rivalry between Oxford and Cambridge in sports called?
Answer: The Varsity Match.
Where does the famous Oxford vs Cambridge Boat Race take place?
Answer: London (on the Thames), not Oxford or Cambridge!
What color is associated with Oxford University sports teams?
Answer: Dark Blue.
What color is Cambridge?
Answer: Light Blue.
What is the "Mallard Song" tradition at All Souls College?
Answer: Once every 100 years, they hunt a legendary giant mallard duck.
Which college has a "beer cellar" that is the oldest in Oxford?
Answer: The cellar at St Edmund Hall (Teddy Hall).
What is the name of the oldest botanical garden in the UK, located in Oxford?
Answer: The Oxford Botanic Garden.
What stands on top of the dome of the Radcliffe Camera?
Answer: Nothing—it’s just a spiked ball/finial.
True or False: Oxford University has a central campus.
Answer: False (it is made up of colleges spread throughout the city).
What is the "Covered Market" famous for?
Answer: Ben’s Cookies and fresh local food.
What is the punishment for being caught in a library with coffee?
Answer: A fine (or a stern look from a librarian!).
Which college did the current Emperor of Japan study at?
Answer: Merton College.
What is "High Table"?
Answer: The table on a raised platform where professors eat dinner, looking down on students.
Is the University of Oxford a private or public university?
Answer: Public.
What is the speed limit for cars in most of Oxford city center?
Answer: 20 mph.
What is the name of the bus that goes from Oxford to London?
Answer: The Oxford Tube.
What famous "comma" is named after the university?
Answer: The Oxford Comma.
What is the motto of the University?
Answer: Dominus Illuminatio Mea (The Lord is my Light).
Which college is nicknamed "The House"?
Answer: Christ Church.
Can you visit the colleges if you are a tourist?
Answer: Yes, most of them (for a small fee).
What is the name of the bookstore that has 3 miles of shelving underground?
Answer: Blackwell’s.
What insect is the "Nuffield" college crest associated with (jokingly)?
Answer: None, but the college is modern. (Bonus: The "nose" on the Brasenose crest is a fun symbol).
If you graduate from Oxford, are you an Oxonian or a Cantabrigian?
Answer: An Oxonian.