On English

I noticed something interesting in this week’s (London) Spectator. Brendan O’Neill, in his article on the decline of Britpop (non-suscribers—shame on you—may find it here), refers to Oxford and University College London as ‘Ivy League universities.’ Previously I’ve never seen the term applied to any university apart from the Ancient Eight, so to speak. I thought Britain had it’s own set of collegiate nicknames, Oxbridge, red brick, and so forth. Perhaps the term ‘Ivy League’ is migrating to the UK, and coming to designate any high-caliber university.

Has anyone else noted similar usage?

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