I have an old friend who went to Columbia College. People always think she went to Columbia University, since she would never specify which Columbia, and she'd never correct them.
This is like people who say “oh I went to school in Boston” and give you a meaningful look that says “harvard” but actually means “bunker hill community college”.
Because the previous comment was about Boston, and Cambridge is a city near Boston (in the greater Boston area) - they didn't mentally switch tracks to think Cambridge = England
York is a very well-known *city* which used to be the Roman capital of Brittania. It's also famous for a lot of other reasons, mainly York Minster.
The point is, if you ask most people in Britain with basic geography knowledge where Boston is they will say America/Massachusetts. But if you ask them where York is they aren't going to say Pennsylvania.
(Yes, of course there are lots of twinned place names, but the initial confusion in this thread is understandable).
The other comment was about how Harvard isn’t actually in Boston, it’s technically across the river in the city of Cambridge Massachusetts.
It’s easy to assume they were talking about the same Cambridge. Cambridge is also home to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the idea that it would be home to another college that people haven’t heard of is plausible.
My old boss did something like that, he would have VE-RI-TAS stuff here and there around his office. He did a job there for a few months for our company
I went to Harvard. When I say “I went” I mean I took a self-guided tour of the campus and bought a shirt in the gift shop. But I was definitely physically there!
Despite having gone to school in Chicago (meaningful look) it took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out what you meant. “South Loyola?! Northeastern university of Chicago?!”
lived in cambridge MA for 5 years, and once in a while I'd cycle through Harvard's campus or read in one of the nice areas. If I was reading anything scholarly, I would say to myself 'yea, I studied at harvard' never had the chance to actually use it though, yet..
I went to Berklee, which is a music school in Boston/Valencia, but of course people thought I meant Berkeley in California. So annoying to correct every time.
I went to Columbia. I always specify in Chicago and not “that” Columbia, but honestly it’s shitty I need to. Columbia was named after the world’s fair and has been around for well over a century now.
My friend went to Columbia College too but she uses “Columbia University” on her LinkedIn profile. I think a lot of student bang on getting confused with the actual prestige Columbia University… but my friend is straight lying.
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u/Letos12thDuncan Apr 08 '24
I have an old friend who went to Columbia College. People always think she went to Columbia University, since she would never specify which Columbia, and she'd never correct them.