--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nigel Barton:Everyone says 'Up at…" description: "\"“Nigel Barton:Everyone says 'Up at Oxford'. You come 'down' when you've finished there. Harry Barton: Well, what's this then? Does bloody Oxford move u..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0a/dennis-potter-13787_says-oxford_nigel-barton-everyone-says-up-at-oxford_1522381.png" --- # Nigel Barton:Everyone says 'Up at Oxford'. You come 'down'… ![“Nigel Barton:Everyone says 'Up at Oxford'. You come 'down' when you've finished there. Harry Barton: Well, what's this then? Does bloody Oxford move up and down the bloody map then?” quote by Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0a/dennis-potter-13787_says-oxford_nigel-barton-everyone-says-up-at-oxford_1522381.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0a/dennis-potter-13787_says-oxford_nigel-barton-everyone-says-up-at-oxford_1522381.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0a/dennis-potter-13787_says-oxford_nigel-barton-everyone-says-up-at-oxford_1522381.png) > ““Nigel Barton:Everyone says 'Up at Oxford'. You come 'down' when you've finished there. Harry Barton: Well, what's this then? Does bloody Oxford move up and down the bloody map then?”” [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A satirical take on academic pretentiousness, mocking the idea that prestigious institutions can be reduced to simple directional jokes. **In simple terms:** Mocking academic elitism with humor. Key Takeaway Question the seriousness of academic hierarchies. Themes satire academia humor elitism Mood witty ironic Type satirical commentary When to use this quote - university life - academic conferences - literary analysis Key Concepts social critique absurdism Questions to Reflect On - Does satire help or hinder understanding of academic value? - Can humor bridge gaps between scholars and public? A Different Perspective Humor may overlook genuine scholarly contributions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [Television's Mr. Filth: that's me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/television-s-mr-filth-that-s-me/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [The thing about imagination is that by the very act of putting it down, there must be some truth in one's own imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/the-thing-about-imagination-is-that-by-the-very-act-of-putting-it/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [You just don't know writers. They'll use anything, anybody. They'll eat their young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/you-just-don-t-know-writers-they-ll-use-anything-anybody-they-ll-eat/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [People endure what they endure and they deal with it. It may corrupt them. It may lead them into all sorts of compensatory excesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/people-endure-what-they-endure-and-they-deal-with-it-it-may-corrupt/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [The strangest thing that human speech and human writing can do is create a metaphor. That is an amazing leap, is it not?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/the-strangest-thing-that-human-speech-and-human-writing-can-do-is/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [I was given talent, and if you are given it, it is your obligation to use it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/i-was-given-talent-and-if-you-are-given-it-it-is-your-obligation-to/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [I have been aware, from the age of 6, that I had talent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/i-have-been-aware-from-the-age-of-6-that-i-had-talent/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [Metaphor is embodied in language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/metaphor-is-embodied-in-language/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [Therapy, as opposed to analysis, is a whole construct of myth, beautiful and creative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/therapy-as-opposed-to-analysis-is-a-whole-construct-of-myth-beautiful/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [The loss of Eden is personally experienced by every one of us as we leave the wonder and magic and also the pains and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/the-loss-of-eden-is-personally-experienced-by-every-one-of-us-as-we/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [Words themselves - the very material of our discourse increasingly take on masks or disguises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/words-themselves-the-very-material-of-our-discourse-increasingly-take/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [As a piece of literacy criticism, Freud's best writing is about Dostoyevsky. It's a kind of displaced literacy criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/as-a-piece-of-literacy-criticism-freud-s-best-writing-is-about/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [“My only regret is to die four pages too soon.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/my-only-regret-is-to-die-four-pages-too-soon/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [We should always look back on our own past with a sort of contempt, as long as the tenderness is there - but please…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/we-should-always-look-back-on-our-own-past-with-a-sort-of-contempt-as/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [Ideals jump across the hierarchies of the printed word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/ideals-jump-across-the-hierarchies-of-the-printed-word/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) ## More by Dennis Potter > [Television's Mr. Filth: that's me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/television-s-mr-filth-that-s-me/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [We should always look back on our own past with a sort of contempt, as long as the tenderness is there - but please…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/we-should-always-look-back-on-our-own-past-with-a-sort-of-contempt-as/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [“My only regret is to die four pages too soon.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/my-only-regret-is-to-die-four-pages-too-soon/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [As a piece of literacy criticism, Freud's best writing is about Dostoyevsky. It's a kind of displaced literacy criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/as-a-piece-of-literacy-criticism-freud-s-best-writing-is-about/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [Words themselves - the very material of our discourse increasingly take on masks or disguises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/words-themselves-the-very-material-of-our-discourse-increasingly-take/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [The loss of Eden is personally experienced by every one of us as we leave the wonder and magic and also the pains and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/the-loss-of-eden-is-personally-experienced-by-every-one-of-us-as-we/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [Therapy, as opposed to analysis, is a whole construct of myth, beautiful and creative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/therapy-as-opposed-to-analysis-is-a-whole-construct-of-myth-beautiful/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [Metaphor is embodied in language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/metaphor-is-embodied-in-language/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [I have been aware, from the age of 6, that I had talent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/i-have-been-aware-from-the-age-of-6-that-i-had-talent/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [I was given talent, and if you are given it, it is your obligation to use it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/i-was-given-talent-and-if-you-are-given-it-it-is-your-obligation-to/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [The strangest thing that human speech and human writing can do is create a metaphor. That is an amazing leap, is it not?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/the-strangest-thing-that-human-speech-and-human-writing-can-do-is/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [People endure what they endure and they deal with it. It may corrupt them. It may lead them into all sorts of compensatory excesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/people-endure-what-they-endure-and-they-deal-with-it-it-may-corrupt/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [You just don't know writers. They'll use anything, anybody. They'll eat their young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/you-just-don-t-know-writers-they-ll-use-anything-anybody-they-ll-eat/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [The thing about imagination is that by the very act of putting it down, there must be some truth in one's own imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/the-thing-about-imagination-is-that-by-the-very-act-of-putting-it/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [Ideals jump across the hierarchies of the printed word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/ideals-jump-across-the-hierarchies-of-the-printed-word/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) [Explore all 46 Dennis Potter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Nigel Barton:Everyone says 'Up at Oxford'. 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