Talk:Rugby School

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Assessment: Hello all, and thank you for contributing to this school article. I'm part of the Wikipedia:WikiProject_Schools/Assessment team, and I'm reviewing this page. I'm currently giving it a grade of Start on the Wikipedia 1.0 Assessment Scale and an importance of Top on this importance scale. For information on improving this article, please visit the WikiProject Schools Project Page. My reasoning is as follows: No references. Needs to be wikified and reorganized. Slang section should be removed. Adam McCormick 19:38, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

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Quite an interesting article. I only have my reservations regarding this statement: However the legend is pure myth. It seems somewhat irresponsible to claim this, without ellaborating on the issue. I, for one, would be very interested to know why this is a myth.

I think that the issue of this being a legend or not should be covered in more depth. If this is not possible, then the statement should be removed.

And perhaps whether the 'pioneer of the intesinal transplant' Omer Moghraby is actually the pioneer of the intestinal transplant, as he did not actually finish his time at Rugby, and was also my peer while I attended (1990-1995) however I can't find any actual references on the internet to a pioneer of intestinal transplant. He is however approx 29 at this point and it would be dubious whether this distinction could be claimed for him. Perhaps it is talking about another Omer Moghraby. (the other I am referring to I googled and seems to be quite a successful doctor in London at the moment however).. KidOblivious

[edit] List of headmasters

I wanted to include a list of Rugby's headmasters - and cannot find one for hours of googling. Other schools have such lists, and if anyone can manage to find one, please post it somewhere in the article. Thanks
Nick Michael 15:58, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Rugby School slang

I don't know who put a citation request template on that section, but I hardly see how anyone is going to be able to cite references or sources for the words there. They must all be straight from the horses' mouths - what more does anyone want??
Nick Michael 16:11, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Straight from the horse's mouth, some of those terms (such as Stodge, Sixth, Boomer, Tosh, Copy, Distinction, Levee (I think one of the es is supposed to have an accent too)) are used and some (such as Beak, Tanner, Speckle, Bug, Topos) I have never heard in my life. They may be historical and not in current use, or I may just have, by chance, never heard the terms. Probably the former. 82.16.77.68 16:47, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

Well, it's fascinating to think that public school slang has a limited life, and is dynamic, just like slang in the 'real world'. I can vouch for most of the words in the current list as being in use when I was at Rugby (Sh, 1961-66), albeit with some exceptions: Boomer, Pig (for Levée), Speckle, Stripe, Tanner. The latter probably arose from our (inexcusably snobbish) way of mockingly pronouncing Town House - 'Tahn arse'. The others I have never heard of and presume they arose after my time.

The few words I have added to the list are absolutely authentic as of the 1960's. 'Bug' for library was used for both the libraries in the houses, and the big school ones - the 'Temple Bug.' 'Topos' is of course from Greek τόπος, meaning 'a place', and was the only acceptable word for a lavatory (whatever is it today? and why should it ever have changed?). Beak of course (I'm surprised the editor above never heard of this) is universal in schools - I believe it was originally used only for a magistrate and then spread to the schoolmaster usage (or the other way round?).
Nick Michael 17:37, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

User:OllyH has taken exception to my removing from the section Rugby School slang the term Drugby. In reinstating it he touchily labels my editing as vandalism, which it wasn't (and he ought to know better). I removed the term because it is not Rugby School slang: as his entry puts it, it was a famous 80's Sun headline after yet another dope bust. This does not even make it slang, let alone Rugby School slang. I'm not going to get into an edit war with OllyH but I believe that if he wants to bring the term up it should go into the main article and not in the list of what are mostly venerable and historical slang words and expressions.Nick Michael 21:50, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

• This section does not fit Wikipedia guidelines. Wikipedia is not a dictionary of slang and as with many other school pages, this fits into the category of a slang dictionary. This section should be removed completely Adam McCormick 19:34, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

I can see your point Adam. However, we are not talking about slang (although that is the term that has been used - incorrectly). This is actually jargon which is quite different really. I suppose you will argue that Wikipedia is not a dictionary of jargon either, but I find it a shame to remove documented historical jargon (many of these terms are no longer used at Rugby) from the article. These terms should be preserved. Where do you suggest preserving them? If they are included in Wiktionary (and they probably should), they will be dispersed; whereas anyone wanting to research Rugby School jargon (and that is not written tongue in cheek - there are many collections/dictionaries of jargon/slang by eminent researchers such as Eric Partridge) can have it all at their fingertips in this article.
Nick Michael 21:22, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

A link to a subpage is probably the best option here if it absolutely must be kept, but the guideline is pretty clear. Perhaps if it was a link out of the history section instead of a section in-and-of itself it wouldn't attract so much attention. Adam McCormick 21:27, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

I (T. 70-74) remember "speckle" and "tanner", but not "bug", "boomer", "pig" "schtig" or "stripe". I remember a "copy" being an essay on a set topic, not a prize; and surely "shag" (meaning "not-school" in a rather abstract way, e.g. "shag clothing" = not uniform, "shagging off" = illicitly skipping a lesson (also "cutting")) should be included? And isn't "Topos" generic public school slang - c.f. If...? JohnKozak 20:39, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Reassess for Schools project

Made top based on Google hits. Pity they're are still few references. There should be 20 or 30. Its not too tricky and this school should have a top 100 article. Victuallers 11:04, 12 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Flashman

Sir Harry Paget Flashman VC KCB KCIE is a fictional character, not a real person —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.45.10.127 (talk) 20:58, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The great Rugby School mutiny of 1797

Does anyone have a record of the mass revolt that happened at Rugby School in 1797?