Talk:Robin Butler, Baron Butler of Brockwell

Terminology
Can someone help out with some of the terminology in this article. Few Americans can decipher "he took a double first in Mods and Greats and twice gained a rugby Blue." I was able to figure out the "double first" and put a Wikipedia link there. I'm guessing Mods is modern languages. Please keep in mind that most British terminology, abbreviations and slang are unknown to Americans and those in other countries as well. Thanks. SDC 03:36, 29 May 2005 (UTC)


 * Quite right. I often find myself getting indignant about American jargon being used as if everybody understands it! I must say I find it even more annoying when it is used inappropriately in a British context (e.g. a person described as having "majored in history", which would be unheard of at most British universities).


 * Double first means that he was placed in the first class in both his first and second public examination. (If he had stayed on to take a second Final Honour School and got a first it would be called a triple first, as in the case of C. S. Lewis).
 * Mods is short for Moderations and means the first public examination for some courses at Oxford (others have "Prelims", short for "Preliminary Examination"). In his case it means Classical Moderations, the usual shorthand first "Honour Moderations in Literae Humaniores" (i.e. Classics)
 * Greats means the Final Honour School of Literae Humaniores, i.e. the second public examination in Classics.
 * A "Blue" is what you get for representing Oxford in a match (or other sporting fixture) against Cambridge. See University Sporting Blue.--Oxonian2006 15:39, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Status in Lords
Does he sit as a cross-bencher in the lords? Fig (talk) 21:51, 17 August 2009 (UTC)

Rab Butler Harlequins
I have given a citation for this story as a book by a historian. However, the book says that this comes from "Private information" and it was published well after the first appearance of the story in Wikipedia. There is thus more than a possibility that Wikipedia was the source of the "Private information". Chemical Engineer (talk) 16:58, 29 December 2013 (UTC)

Parents?
Since many (like myself) will visit this page purely to see whether he's the son of Rab Butler, it might be appropriate to name his parents early on in the article. It looks odd without, anyway. Valetude (talk) 13:59, 28 July 2020 (UTC)