The Oxford "-er", or often "-ers", is a colloquial and sometimes facetious suffix prevalent at Oxford University from about 1875, which is thought to have been borrowed from the slang of Rugby School. The term was defined by the New Zealand-born lexicographer Eric Partridge in his Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (several editions 1937–61).
Read more about Oxford "-er": Rugger, Footer and Soccer, What Is and Is Not, Test Match Special, Other Personal Forms, Other Examples, Moving On — But Not Entirely: Jen, Harry Potter and Gazza
Famous quotes containing the word oxford:
“The logical English train a scholar as they train an engineer. Oxford is Greek factory, as Wilton mills weave carpet, and Sheffield grinds steel. They know the use of a tutor, as they know the use of a horse; and they draw the greatest amount of benefit from both. The reading men are kept by hard walking, hard riding, and measured eating and drinking, at the top of their condition, and two days before the examination, do not work but lounge, ride, or run, to be fresh on the college doomsday.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)