Tartan Day in Balboa Park, San Diego

[FossilHunter]

I think your terminology would not be quite correct for Universities in the UK. I think we would say that we graduated from X university rather than being an "Old boy"!

So imagine you are attending a gathering of fairly ancient(old) ex university students who had qualified from assorted UK universities and in the dim and distant past attended some very smart UK school as well. So there will be several assorted ties on view which one can then also add assorted military ties on show too. I found these events rather trying, but identifying the ties has made the time pass slightly faster, on more than one occasion!

That’s quite possible. There’s a terminology difference I’ve been missing. The usage of college and university appears to be different here than in the UK. In the US, the distinction is more subtle and the terms often get used interchangeably. If someone here told me they were a college graduate, I’d assume that they had earned at least a bachelors degree.

Based on what I see with a google search, “Colleges in the UK offer further education for those aged 16-18, preparing them for university. Some UK colleges also provide vocational training and adult education courses.”

Whereas in the US, “In the US, universities and colleges are both forms of higher education for students who have completed a high school education. However, they differ because colleges are often smaller than universities and have specializations in specific fields of study. Universities emphasize research, are typically larger, and offer a broader range of courses.”

It’s amazing that the terms are used so differently but you can see where my confusion came from.

[NHhighlander]

Tie Etiquette.

I know it sounds a tad old fashioned, but there is a certain amount of tie etiquette to bare in mind. Particularly, I think, within the UK. But I think it is worth others from outwith the UK and The Commonwealth, having a gentle heads-up too.

Basically, with Old School, University/College, Club, and Regimental/Unit ties, it is very bad form to wear one if you are not entitled to it.

My Dad would call you a friend.

Hmm, makes me think, I should look for that very obscure tie from the national Rugby annual championship that the team that I coached won the very last time the competition took place, waaaaay back when (and as a result of the organizing body dissolving, the trophy that was supposed to go to the next team to win the following year never was needed again, and lives a sad existence now in my basement. What a shame.)

[Jock Scot]

That’s quite possible. There’s a terminology difference I’ve been missing. The usage of college and university appears to be different here than in the UK. In the US, the distinction is more subtle and the terms often get used interchangeably. If someone here told me they were a college graduate, I’d assume that they had earned at least a bachelors degree.

In polite circles in the UK, one notes the tie and the viewer might just say, "I see that you went to Oxbridge or the RAC or wherever" and the answer would be "indeed I did" that would then be the end of that particular conversation. We don't ask what qualification they might have achieved and rarely are we told, the conversation might move on to "my cousin went there you might have known him/her? After that the conversation usually takes a non academic route.

[FossilHunter]

In polite circles in the UK, one notes the tie and the viewer might just say, "I see that you went to Oxbridge or the RAC or wherever" and the answer would be "indeed I did" that would then be the end of that particular conversation. We don't ask what qualification they might have achieved and rarely are we told, the conversation might move on to "my cousin went there you might have known him/her? After that the conversation usually takes a non academic route.

That’s reasonable, especially considering that the ties give an indication of where they went.

I wouldn’t generally ask too much about a stranger’s educational background. Unless of course I find out that they are in a field related to my own, then I ask out of genuine interest which I believe is a slightly different situation.

[OC Richard]

Due to the informal nature of our dress here in California, it seems that baseball caps, t-shirts, fleece jackets, etc bearing a College or University name and/or logo fulfill a similar function to neckties in the UK.

It's very common for people not only to wear such "college gear" but also to fly college flags on their houses.

In many cases parents will wear gear and fly flags of the college/university their child is attending/did attend.

Around here much of this is fueled by the rivalry between the Los Angeles area's two most prominent universities, USC and UCLA.

So a car will have a licence-plate frame that says "MY MAID WENT TO UCLA" and down the street in a posh neighbourhood you might see alternating flags from those two schools interspersed with flags from universities across the country.

[FossilHunter]

Due to the informal nature of our dress here in California, it seems that baseball caps, t-shirts, fleece jackets, etc bearing a College or University name and/or logo fulfill a similar function to neckties in the UK.

It's very common for people not only to wear such "college gear" but also to fly college flags on their houses.

In many cases parents will wear gear and fly flags of the college/university their child is attending/did attend.

Around here much of this is fueled by the rivalry between the Los Angeles area's two most prominent universities, USC and UCLA.

So a car will have a licence-plate frame that says "MY MAID WENT TO UCLA" and down the street in a posh neighbourhood you might see alternating flags from those two schools interspersed with flags from universities across the country.

Yup and certainly no one is wearing ties at school. I recall early morning lecture halls with girls coming in wearing their pajama bottoms, ugg boots, and Starbucks coffee. Maybe an SDSU hoodie if it was chilly out.

This was also 13 years ago so I can’t imagine it’s got any better. Some of that may be Southern Californian informality.

[jsrnephdoc]

Yup and certainly no one is wearing ties at school. I recall early morning lecture halls with girls coming in wearing their pajama bottoms, ugg boots, and Starbucks coffee. Maybe an SDSU hoodie if it was chilly out.

This was also 13 years ago so I can’t imagine it’s got any better. Some of that may be Southern Californian informality.

It's not just SoCal. It's the entire US. I don't think I can blame it on the internet or Social Media, but informality (even aggressive informality) is almost a TRADITION (if we really have any) in the US. The very fact that one of America's oldest and most respected Ivy League universities doesn't even BOTHER to sell "school ties" (but did, decade ago) testifies to that.

But I'll add another illustration, relevant to your neck of the woods. Early in my career as a practicing nephrologist, I attended the annual scientific meetings of the American Society of Nephrology (a fairly stodgy group of intellectuals with the liberal political leanings typically concentrated in academic institutions). At the time, I possessed limited financial resources, so I'd stay at my mom's brother's house in the hills just east of the city rather than at the Convention Center hotel. He'd let me borrow his "extra" car for my drive into the Convention Center, a source of embarrassment for me because the car was a placard for stickers bearing messages such as "Don't Steal—The Government HATES competition."

I should add that it's not ALWAYS been this way in the US. I remember my own primary and secondary school years, when chewing gum in class would trigger a trip to the Principal's office, as would the (rarely necessary) trip to the same office for a young girl, precipitated by questions regarding her modesty, tested by having her kneel in that office to make certain that the bottom of her skirt reached the floor. And it goes without saying that back then NO girl could ever wear slacks to school.

2/3 of a century later, the only people WORRYING about hemlines are US, wondering how to keep the bottoms of our kilts in the proper precise relationship to our kneecaps and hose-tops!