- grammar schoolnounChapter 1 →
In England, a state secondary school that selects pupils by academic ability, typically through an entrance exam; considered more prestigious than ordinary state schools.
- A-levelsnounChapter 1 →
Advanced-level school-leaving qualifications taken in England, usually at age 18, that determine university entry; the boys have already passed these before the play begins.
- OxbridgenounChapter 1 →
A combined term for the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the two most prestigious universities in Britain, whose entrance exams the boys are preparing for.
- general-studiesnounChapter 1 →
A broad, non-specialist school subject covering literature, culture, and ideas rather than a single academic discipline; the subject Hector teaches.
- humanistnounChapter 1 →
A person who believes that literature, art, and culture have deep value for human life and self-understanding, independent of religion or practical usefulness.
- particularadjectiveChapter 1 →
Belonging exclusively to one person; uniquely personal rather than shared or common, as in a feeling you believed only you had ever experienced.
“a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things — which you'd thought special and particular to you.”
- set downphraseChapter 1 →
Written or recorded in a fixed, permanent form — here, the idea that a private feeling has been captured in print by another person.
“Now here it is, set down by someone else.”
- counter-intuitiveadjectiveChapter 1 →
Going against what most people would naturally expect or believe; deliberately surprising or paradoxical, used here as a rhetorical strategy to impress examiners.
- spinnounChapter 2 →
The deliberate shaping of facts or events to create a particular impression; presenting information in a way designed to persuade rather than simply to inform.
- propositionnounChapter 2 →
A direct sexual or romantic offer made to someone; an explicit suggestion that two people become intimate.
- unrequitedadjectiveChapter 2 →
Describing love or strong feeling that is not returned by the person it is directed at; one-sided affection with no response in kind.
- incapabilitiesnounChapter 2 →
Fundamental failures or inability to act effectively; used here to describe the repeated, systemic shortcomings of men throughout history.
“History is a commentary on the various and continuing incapabilities of men.”
- commentarynounChapter 2 →
A sustained critical observation or analysis of something; here, the idea that the historical record is essentially a long record of men's failures.
“History is a commentary on the various and continuing incapabilities of men.”
- punditnounChapter 2 →
A person who appears in the media as an expert commentator, offering opinions on current events, often more for entertainment or persuasion than for truth.
- pass it onphraseChapter 2 →
To hand knowledge, culture, or feeling along to the next person or generation; Hector's core belief that learning is kept alive by being shared from one person to another.
“Pass it on. Just pass it on.”
The History BoysPlay by Alan Bennett