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Nov 28, 2009
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Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—S

Stinkomalee'

So Theodore Hook called University College, London. the fun of the sobriquet is this: the buildings stand on the site of a large rubbish store or sort of refuse field, into which were cast potsherds and all sorts of sweepings. About the same time the question respecting Trincomalee in Ceylon was in agitation, so the wit spun the two ideas together, and produced the word in question, which was the more readily accepted as the non-religious education of the new college, and its rivalry with Oxford and Cambridge, gave for a time very great offence to the High Church and State party.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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  • Stinkomalee' - Stinkomalee' So Theodore Hook called University College, London. the fun of the sobriquet is ...
  • Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: S - Definitions, origins, and illustrative excerpts for words, phases, and literary allusions starting with "S"
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