# How do you pronounce 'Magdalene' and 'Caius' (Cambridge colleges)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 8, 2010, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-magdalene-and-caius-cambridge-colleges/549594 "2010-08-08T11:10:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-magdalene-and-caius-cambridge-colleges/549594/1 "2010-08-08T11:10:03Z")
Just when I thought I had it straight, I came across yet another pronunciation last night for Magdalene (one of the [colleges at Cambridge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colleges_of_Cambridge)). That reminded me that I’m still not sure how to pronounce one of the other Cambridge colleges - Caius (as in Gonville and Caius College). Possibilities I’ve seen and heard for Magdalene (college) are: - magdalene (i.e. as it looks, with the penultimate ‘e’ being long) - magdulun - maudlin - mordlin Possibilities for Caius (as in Gonville and Caius) are: - key-uss - kye-uss - kay-uss - keys What do you think? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-magdalene-and-caius-cambridge-colleges/549594/2 "2010-08-08T11:49:45Z")
As I understand it, it’s Maudlin and Keys. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-magdalene-and-caius-cambridge-colleges/549594/3 "2010-08-08T11:54:27Z")
Englishman here, just confirming that **Noel Prosequi** is quite right, it’s Maudlin and Keys. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-magdalene-and-caius-cambridge-colleges/549594/4 "2010-08-08T17:04:28Z")
Indeed, thanks. Out of curiosity, do you _ever_ hear them pronounced differently? ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-magdalene-and-caius-cambridge-colleges/549594/5 "2010-08-08T17:15:12Z")
The one in Oxford, Magdalen without the final E, is also pronounced “Maudlin”. I have heard them pronounced as they are spelt, not least by me before I realised that “Maudlin” and Magdalene/Magdalen were the same places. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-magdalene-and-caius-cambridge-colleges/549594/6 "2010-08-08T17:20:50Z")
There was a young student at Caius Who whizzed down the slopes on his skaius; But a Fellow of Magdalene Said "I prefer dagdalene - “I’ve got where I am by degraius!” ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-magdalene-and-caius-cambridge-colleges/549594/7 "2010-08-09T02:50:15Z")
Can’t help myself: There was a young fellow named Cholmondeley, Whose bride was so mellow and colmondeley That the best man, Colquhoun, An inane young bolqufoun, Could only stand still and stare dolmondeley. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-magdalene-and-caius-cambridge-colleges/549594/8 "2010-08-09T04:15:08Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Indeed, thanks. > > Out of curiosity, do you _ever_ hear them pronounced differently? Of course. The whole point of these non-obvious pronunciations is to distinguish between those who know how the names of these two colleges are pronounced, and those who don’t. A whole host of stereotyped conclusions can be drawn from this distinction. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-magdalene-and-caius-cambridge-colleges/549594/9 "2010-08-09T10:38:00Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Can’t help myself: > > There was a young fellow named Cholmondeley, > Whose bride was so mellow and colmondeley > That the best man, Colquhoun, > An inane young bolqufoun, > Could only stand still and stare dolmondeley. Actually, I believe the bride was Siobhan Menzies from Happisburgh, not to be confused with her sister, Islay Featherstonehaugh who went to Oxford, at Balliol College. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-magdalene-and-caius-cambridge-colleges/549594/10 "2010-08-09T10:51:21Z")
There was a young fellow from Wymondham Who grew some tomatoes and tymondham; When he started to scoff He found they’d gone off So he said something peevish and bymondham. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-magdalene-and-caius-cambridge-colleges/549594/11 "2010-08-09T12:46:47Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Indeed, thanks. > > Out of curiosity, do you _ever_ hear them pronounced differently? I grew up in Cambridge and this how they were always pronounced locally. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-magdalene-and-caius-cambridge-colleges/549594/12 "2010-08-09T14:13:41Z")
All I can say is, you Brits need to learn to speak English. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-magdalene-and-caius-cambridge-colleges/549594/13 "2010-08-09T15:30:21Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > All I can say is, you Brits need to learn to speak English. After all, if it was good enough for Jesus it should be good enough for us Limeys, right? 🙂