How do I pronounce Magdalen?
The ‘Magdalen’ of Magdalen College, Magdalen College School, Magdalen Bridge and Magdalen Road is pronounced ‘maudlin’. (The estates around Magdalen Road were built on the college’s cricket ground.) The same pronunciation is used for Magdalene College in Cambridge. In all other contexts you pronounce the ‘g’; in particular, for St Mary Magdalen Church, and Magdalen Street and Magdalen Street East which take their names from the church they bound. While we’re at it: Christ Church. Two words, no ‘college’. In fact the variant forms Christchurch and Christ Church College are all attested – the omission of ‘college’ is a nineteenth-century affectation – but it’s the way it’s spelt today and you should respect that. It also avoids confusion with Christchurch, a town on the south coast of England or the South Island of New Zealand.
