OXFORD ACCENT

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OXFORD ACCENT. A form of RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION regarded as typical of faculty and students at the U. of Oxford, as opposed to the townspeople of Oxford. It was widely regarded, especially before the Second World War, as affected: ‘It might be said perhaps that the “Oxford Accent” conveys an impression of a precise and rather foppish elegance, and of deliberate artificiality’ (Society for Pure English Tract 39, 1934). See AFFECTATION.