A Collection of College Words and Customs written by Benjamin Homer Hall

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"The dress worn by the Doctor of Music on public occasions is a
rich white damask silk gown, with sleeves and facings of crimson
satin, a hood of the same material, and a round black velvet cap.
The usual dresses of the Doctor and of the Bachelor in Music are
nearly the same as those of Law and Physic.

"The Master of Arts wears a black gown, usually made of prince's
stuff or crape, with long sleeves which are remarkable for the
circular cut at the bottom. The arm comes through an aperture in
the sleeve, which hangs down. The hood of a Master of Arts is
black silk lined with crimson.

"The gown of a Bachelor of Arts is also usually made of prince's
stuff or crape. It has a full sleeve, looped up at the elbow, and
terminating in a point; the dress hood is black, trimmed with
white fur. In Lent, at the time of _determining_ in the Schools, a
strip of lamb's-wool is worn in addition to the hood. Noblemen and
Gentlemen-Commoners, who take the Degrees of Bachelor and Master
of Arts, wear their gowns of silk."

The costume of the Undergraduates is thus described:--

"The Nobleman has two dresses; the first, which is worn in the
Theatre, in processions, and on all public occasions, is a gown of
purple damask silk, richly ornamented with gold lace. The second
is a black silk gown, with full sleeves; it has a tippet attached
to the shoulders. With both these dresses is worn a square cap of
black velvet, with a gold tassel.

"The Gentleman-Commoner has two gowns, _both of black silk_; the
first, which is considered as a dress gown, although worn on all
occasions, at pleasure, is richly ornamented with tassels. The
second, or undress gown, is ornamented with plaits at the sleeves.
A square black velvet cap with a silk tassel, is worn with both.

"The dress of Commoners is a gown of black prince's stuff, without
sleeves; from each shoulder is appended a broad strip, which
reaches to the bottom of the dress, and towards the top is
gathered into plaits. Square cap of black cloth and silk tassel.

"The student in Civil Law, or Civilian, wears a plain black silk
gown, and square cloth cap, with silk tassel.

"Scholars and Demies of Magdalene, and students of Christ Church
who have not taken a degree, wear a plain black gown of prince's
stuff, with round, full sleeves half the length of the gown, and a
square black cap, with silk tassel.

"The dress of the Servitor is the same as that of the Commoner,
but it has no plaits at the shoulder, and the cap is without a
tassel."

The costume of those among the University Officers who are
distinguished by their dress, may be thus noted:--

"The dress of the Chancellor is of black damask silk, richly
ornamented with gold embroidery, a rich lace band, and square
velvet cap, with a large gold tassel.

"The Proctors wear gowns of prince's stuff, the sleeves and
facings of black velvet; to the left shoulder is affixed a small
tippet. To this is added, as a dress, a large ermine hood.

"The Pro-Proctor wears a Master of Arts' gown, faced with velvet,
with a tippet attached to the left shoulder."

The Collectors wear the same dress as the Proctors, with the
exception of the hood and tippet.

The Esquire Bedels wear silk gowns, similar to those of Bachelors
of Law, and round velvet caps. The Yeoman Bedels have black stuff
gowns, and round silk caps.

The dress of the Verger is nearly the same as that of the Yeoman
Bedel.

"Bands at the neck are considered as necessary appendages to the
academic dress, particularly on all public occasions."--_Guide to
Oxford_.

See DRESS.

COURTS. At the English universities, the squares or acres into
which each college is divided. Called also quadrangles,
abbreviated quads.

All the colleges are constructed in quadrangles or _courts_; and,
as in course of years the population of every college, except
one,[18] has outgrown the original quadrangle, new courts have
been added, so that the larger foundations have three, and one[19]
has four courts.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d,
p. 2.

CRACKLING. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., in common
parlance, the three stripes of velvet which a member of St. John's
College wears on his sleeve, are designated by this name.

Various other gowns are to be discerned, the Pembroke looped at
the sleeve, the Christ's and Catherine curiously crimped in front,
and the Johnian with its unmistakable "_Crackling_"--_Bristed's
Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 73.

CRAM. To prepare a student to pass an examination; to study in
view of examination. In the latter sense used in American
colleges.

In the latter [Euclid] it is hardly possible, at least not near so
easy as in Logic, to present the semblance of preparation by
learning questions and answers by rote:--in the cant phrase of
undergraduates, by getting _crammed_.--_Whalely's Logic, Preface_.

For many weeks he "_crams_" him,--daily does he rehearse.
_Poem before the Iadma of Harv. Coll._, 1850.

A class of men arose whose business was to _cram_ the candidates.
--_Lit. World_, Vol. XII. p. 246.

In a wider sense, to prepare another, or one's self, by study, for
any occasion.

The members of the bar were lounging about that tabooed precinct,
some smoking, some talking and laughing, some poring over long,
ill-written papers or large calf-bound books, and all big with the
ponderous interests depending upon them, and the eloquence and
learning with which they were "_crammed_" for the
occasion.--_Talbot and Vernon_.

When he was to write, it was necessary to _cram_ him with the
facts and points.--_F.K. Hunt's Fourth Estate_, 1850.

CRAM. All miscellaneous information about Ancient History,
Geography, Antiquities, Law, &c.; all classical matter not
included under the heads of TRANSLATION and COMPOSITION, which can
be learned by CRAMMING. Peculiar to the English
Universities.--_Bristed_.

2. The same as CRAMMING, which see.

I have made him promise to give me four or five evenings of about
half an hour's _cram_ each.--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 240.

It is not necessary to practise "_cram_" so outrageously as at
some of the college examinations.--_Westminster Rev._, Am. ed.,
Vol. XXXV. p. 237.

3. A paper on which is written something necessary to be learned,
previous to an examination.

"Take care what you light your cigars with," said Belton, "you'll
be burning some of Tufton's _crams_: they are stuck all about the
pictures."--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 223.

He puzzled himself with his _crams_ he had in his pocket, and
copied what he did not understand.--_Ibid._, p. 279.

CRAMBAMBULI. A favorite drink among the students in the German
universities, composed of burnt rum and sugar.

_Crambambuli_, das ist der Titel
Des Tranks, der sich bei uns bewaehrt.
_Drinking song_.

To the next! let's have the _crambambuli_ first, however.--_Yale
Lit. Mag._, Vol. XII. p. 117.

CRAM BOOK. A book in which are laid down such topics as constitute
an examination, together with the requisite answers to the
questions proposed on that occasion.

He in consequence engages a private tutor, and buys all the _cram
books_ published for the occasion.--_Gradus ad Cantab._, p. 128.

CRAMINATION. A farcical word, signifying the same as _cramming_;
the termination _tion_ being suffixed for the sake of mock
dignity.

The ---- scholarship is awarded to the student in each Senior
Class who attends most to _cramination_ on the College
course.--_Burlesque Catalogue_, Yale Coll., 1852-53, p. 28.

CRAM MAN. One who is cramming for an examination.

He has read all the black-lettered divinity in the Bodleian, and
says that none of the _cram men_ shall have a chance with
him.--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 274.

CRAMMER. One who prepares another for an examination.

The qualifications of a _crammer_ are given in the following
extract from the Collegian's Guide.

"The first point, therefore, in which a crammer differs from other
tutors, is in the selection of subjects. While another tutor would
teach every part of the books given up, he virtually reduces their
quantity, dwelling chiefly on the 'likely parts.'

"The second point in which a crammer excels is in fixing the
attention, and reducing subjects to the comprehension of
ill-formed and undisciplined minds.

"The third qualification of a crammer is a happy manner and
address, to encourage the desponding, to animate the idle, and to
make the exertions of the pupil continually increase in such a
ratio, that he shall be wound up to concert pitch by the day of
entering the schools."--pp. 231, 232.

CRAMMING. A cant term, in the British universities, for the act of
preparing a student to pass an examination, by going over the
topics with him beforehand, and furnishing him with the requisite
answers.--_Webster_.

The author of the Collegian's Guide, speaking of examinations,
says: "First, we must observe that all examinations imply the
existence of examiners, and examiners, like other mortal beings,
lie open to the frauds of designing men, through the uniformity
and sameness of their proceedings. This uniformity inventive men
have analyzed and reduced to a system, founding thereon a certain
science, and corresponding art, called _Cramming_."--p. 229.

The power of "_cramming_"--of filling the mind with knowledge
hastily acquired for a particular occasion, and to be forgotten
when that occasion is past--is a power not to be despised, and of
much use in the world, especially at the bar.--_Westminster Rev._,
Am. ed., Vol. XXXV. p. 237.

I shall never forget the torment I suffered in _cramming_ long
lessons in Greek Grammar.--_Dickens's Household Words_, Vol. I. p.
192.

CRAM PAPER. A paper in which are inserted such questions as are
generally asked at an examination. The manner in which these
questions are obtained is explained in the following extract.
"Every pupil, after his examination, comes to thank him as a
matter of course; and as every man, you know, is loquacious enough
on such occasions, Tufton gets out of him all the questions he was
asked in the schools; and according to these questions, he has
moulded his _cram papers_."--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 239.

We should be puzzled to find any questions more absurd and
unreasonable than those in the _cram papers_ in the college
examination.--_Westminster Rev._, Am. ed., Vol. XXXV. p. 237.

CRIB. Probably a translation; a pony.

Of the "Odes and Epodes of Horace, translated literally and
rhythmically" by W. Sewell, of Oxford, the editor of the Literary
World remarks: "Useful as a '_crib_,' it is also poetical."--Vol.
VIII. p. 28.

CROW'S-FOOT. At Harvard College a badge formerly worn on the
sleeve, resembling a crow's foot, to denote the class to which a
student belongs. In the regulations passed April 29, 1822, for
establishing the style of dress among the students at Harvard
College, we find the following. A part of the dress shall be
"three crow's-feet, made of black silk cord, on the lower part of
the sleeve of a Senior, two on that of a Junior, and one on that
of a Sophomore." The Freshmen were not allowed to wear the
crow's-foot, and the custom is now discontinued, although an
unsuccessful attempt was made to revive it a few years ago.

The Freshman scampers off at the first bell for the chapel, where,
finding no brother student of a higher class to encourage his
punctuality, he crawls back to watch the starting of some one
blessed with a _crow's-foot_, to act as vanguard.--_Harv. Reg._,
p. 377.

The corded _crow's-feet_, and the collar square,
The change and chance of earthly lot must share.
_Class Poem at Harv. Coll._, 1835, p. 18.

What if the creature should arise,--
For he was stout and tall,--
And swallow down a Sophomore,
Coat, _crow's-foot_, cap, and all.
_Holmes's Poems_, 1850, p. 109.

CUE, KUE, Q. A small portion of bread or beer; a term formerly
current in both the English universities, the letter q being the
mark in the buttery books to denote such a piece. Q would seem to
stand for _quadrans_, a farthing; but Minsheu says it was only
half that sum, and thus particularly explains it: "Because they
set down in the battling or butterie bookes in Oxford and
Cambridge, the letter q for half a farthing; and in Oxford when
they make that cue or q a farthing, they say, _cap my q_, and make
it a farthing, thus, [Symbol: small q with a line over]. But in
Cambridge they use this letter, a little f; thus, f, or thus, s,
for a farthing." He translates it in Latin _calculus panis_. Coles
has, "A _cue_ [half a farthing] minutum."--_Nares's Glossary_.

"A cue of bread," says Halliwell, "is the fourth part of a
half-penny crust. A cue of beer, one draught."

J. Woods, under-butler of Christ Church, Oxon, said he would never
sitt capping of _cues_.--_Urry's MS._ add. to Ray.

You are still at Cambridge with size _kue_.--_Orig. of Dr._, III.
p. 271.

He never drank above size _q_ of Helicon.--_Eachard, Contempt of
Cl._, p. 26.

"_Cues_ and _cees_," says Nares, "are generally mentioned
together, the _cee_ meaning a small measure of beer; but why, is
not equally explained." From certain passages in which they are
used interchangeably, the terms do not seem to have been well
defined.

Hee [the college butler] domineers over freshmen, when they first
come to the hatch, and puzzles them with strange language of
_cues_ and _cees_, and some broken Latin, which he has learnt at
his bin.--_Earle's Micro-cosmographie_, (1628,) Char. 17.

The word _cue_ was formerly used at Harvard College. Dr. Holyoke,
who graduated in 1746, says, the "breakfast was two sizings of
bread and a _cue_ of beer." Judge Wingate, who graduated thirteen
years after, says: "We were allowed at dinner a _cue_ of beer,
which was a half-pint."

It is amusing to see, term after term, and year after year, the
formal votes, passed by this venerable body of seven ruling and
teaching elders, regulating the price at which a _cue_ (a
half-pint) of cider, or a _sizing_ (ration) of bread, or beef,
might be sold to the student by the butler.--_Eliot's Sketch of
Hist. Harv. Coll._, p. 70.

CUP. Among the English Cantabs, "an odious mixture ... compounded
of spice and cider."--_Westminster Rev._, Am. ed., Vol. XXXV. p.
239.

CURL. In the University of Virginia, to make a perfect recitation;
to overwhelm a Professor with student learning.

CUT. To be absent from; to neglect. Thus, a person is said to
"_cut_ prayers," to "_cut_ lecture," &c. Also, to "_cut_ Greek" or
"Latin"; i.e. to be absent from the Greek or Latin recitation.
Another use of the word is, when one says, "I _cut_ Dr. B----, or
Prof. C----, this morning," meaning that he was absent from their
exercises.

Prepare to _cut_ recitations, _cut_ prayers, _cut_ lectures,--ay,
to _cut_ even the President himself.--_Oration before H.L. of I.O.
of O.F._ 1848.

Next morn he _cuts_ his maiden prayer, to his last night's text
abiding.--_Poem before Y.H. of Harv. Coll._, 1849.

As soon as we were Seniors,
We _cut_ the morning prayers,
We showed the Freshmen to the door,
And helped them down the stairs.
_Presentation Day Songs_, June 15, 1854.

We speak not of individuals but of majorities, not of him whose
ambition is to "_cut_" prayers and recitations so far as possible.
--_Williams Quarterly_, Vol. II. p. 15.

The two rudimentary lectures which he was at first forced to
attend, are now pressed less earnestly upon his notice. In fact,
he can almost entirely "_cut_" them, if he likes, and does _cut_
them accordingly, as a waste of time,--_Household Words_, Vol. II.
p. 160.

_To cut dead_, in student use, to neglect entirely.

I _cut_ the Algebra and Trigonometry papers _dead_ my first year,
and came out seventh.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._,
Ed. 2d, p. 51.

This word is much used in the University of Cambridge, England, as
appears from the following extract from a letter in the
Gentleman's Magazine, written with reference to some of the
customs there observed:--"I remarked, also, that they frequently
used the words _to cut_, and to sport, in senses to me totally
unintelligible. A man had been cut in chapel, cut at afternoon
lectures, cut in his tutor's rooms, cut at a concert, cut at a
ball, &c. Soon, however, I was told of men, _vice versa_, who cut
a figure, _cut_ chapel, _cut_ gates, _cut_ lectures, _cut_ hall,
_cut_ examinations, cut particular connections; nay, more, I was
informed of some who _cut_ their tutors!"--_Gent. Mag._, 1794, p.
1085.

The instances in which the verb _to cut_ is used in the above
extract without Italics, are now very common both in England and
America.

_To cut Gates_. To enter college after ten o'clock,--the hour of
shutting them.--_Gradus ad Cantab._, p. 40.

CUT. An omission of a recitation. This phrase is frequently heard:
"We had a cut to-day in Greek," i.e. no recitation in Greek.
Again, "Prof. D---- gave us a cut," i.e. he had no recitation. A
correspondent from Bowdoin College gives, in the following
sentence, the manner in which this word is there used:--"_Cuts_.
When a class for any reason become dissatisfied with one of the
Faculty, they absent themselves from his recitation, as an
expression of their feelings"

_D_.

D.C.L. An abbreviation for _Doctor Civilis Legis_, Doctor in Civil
Law. At the University of Oxford, England, this degree is
conferred four years after receiving the degree of B.C.L. The
exercises are three lectures. In the University of Cambridge,
England, a D.C.L. must be a B.C.L. of five years' standing, or an
M.A. of seven years' standing, and must have kept two acts.

D.D. An abbreviation of _Divinitatis Doctor_, Doctor in Divinity.
At the University of Cambridge, England, this degree is conferred
on a B.D. of five, or an M.A. of twelve years' standing. The
exercises are one act, two opponencies, a clerum, and an English
sermon. At Oxford it is given to a B.D. of four, or a regent M.A.
of eleven years' standing. The exercises are three lectures. In
American colleges this degree is honorary, and is conferred _pro
meritis_ on those who are distinguished as theologians.

DEAD. To be unable to recite; to be ignorant of the lesson; to
declare one's self unprepared to recite.

Be ready, in fine, to cut, to drink, to smoke, to
_dead_.--_Oration before H.L. of I.O. of O.F._, 1848.

I see our whole lodge desperately striving to _dead_, by doing
that hardest of all work, nothing.--_Ibid._, 1849.

_Transitively_; to cause one to fail in reciting. Said of a
teacher who puzzles a scholar with difficult questions, and
thereby causes him to fail.

Have I been screwed, yea, _deaded_ morn and eve,
Some dozen moons of this collegiate life,
And not yet taught me to philosophize?
_Harvardiana_, Vol. III. p. 255.

DEAD. A complete failure; a declaration that one is not prepared
to recite.

One must stand up in the singleness of his ignorance to understand
all the mysterious feelings connected with a _dead_.--_Harv.
Reg._, p. 378.

And fearful of the morrow's screw or _dead_,
Takes book and candle underneath his bed.
_Class Poem, by B.D. Winslow, at Harv. Coll._, 1835, p. 10.

He, unmoved by Freshman's curses,
Loves the _deads_ which Freshmen make.--_MS. Poem_.

But oh! what aching heads had they!
What _deads_ they perpetrated the succeeding day.--_Ibid._

It was formerly customary in many colleges, and is now in a few,
to talk about "taking a dead."

I have a most instinctive dread
Of getting up to _take a dead_,
Unworthy degradation!--_Harv. Reg._, p. 312.

DEAD-SET. The same as a DEAD, which see.

Now's the day and now's the hour;
See approach Old Sikes's power;
See the front of Logic lower;
Screws, _dead-sets_, and fines.--_Rebelliad_, p. 52.

Grose has this word in his Slang Dictionary, and defines it "a
concerted scheme to defraud a person by gaming." "This phrase,"
says Bartlett, in his Dictionary of Americanisms, "seems to be
taken from the lifeless attitude of a pointer in marking his
game."

"The lifeless attitude" seems to be the only point of resemblance
between the above definitions, and the appearance of one who is
_taking a dead set_. The word has of late years been displaced by
the more general use of the word _dead_, with the same meaning.

The phrase _to be at a dead-set_, implying a fixed state or
condition which precludes further progress, is in general use.

DEAN. An officer in each college of the universities in England,
whose duties consist in the due preservation of the college
discipline.

"Old Holingshed," says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, "in his
Chronicles, describing Cambridge, speaks of 'certain censors, or
_deanes_, appointed to looke to the behaviour and manner of the
Students there, whom they punish _very severely_, if they make any
default, according to the quantitye and qualitye of their
trespasses.' When _flagellation_ was enforced at the universities,
the Deans were the ministers of vengeance."

At the present time, a person applying for admission to a college
in the University of Cambridge, Eng., is examined by the Dean and
the Head Lecturer. "The Dean is the presiding officer in chapel,
and the only one whose presence there is indispensable. He
oversees the markers' lists, pulls up the absentees, and receives
their excuses. This office is no sinecure in a large college." At
Oxford "the discipline of a college is administered by its head,
and by an officer usually called Dean, though, in some colleges,
known by other names."--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._,
Ed. 2d, pp. 12, 16. _Literary World_, Vol. XII. p. 223.

In the older American colleges, whipping and cuffing were
inflicted by a tutor, professor, or president; the latter,
however, usually employed an agent for this purpose.

See under CORPORAL PUNISHMENT.

2. In the United States, a registrar of the faculty in some
colleges, and especially in medical institutions.--_Webster_.

A _dean_ may also be appointed by the Faculty of each Professional
School, if deemed expedient by the Corporation.--_Laws Univ. at
Cam., Mass._, 1848, p. 8.

3. The head or president of a college.

You rarely find yourself in a shop, or other place of public
resort, with a Christ-Church-man, but he takes occasion, if young
and frivolous, to talk loudly of the _Dean_, as an indirect
expression of his own connection with this splendid college; the
title of _Dean_ being exclusively attached to the headship of
Christ Church.--_De Quincey's Life and Manners_, p. 245.

DEAN OF CONVOCATION. At Trinity College, Hartford, this officer
presides in the _House of Convocation_, and is elected by the
same, biennially.--_Calendar Trin. Coll._, 1850, p. 7.

DEAN'S BOUNTY. In 1730, the Rev. Dr. George Berkeley, then Dean of
Derry, in Ireland, came to America, and resided a year or two at
Newport, Rhode Island, "where," says Clap, in his History of Yale
College, "he purchased a country seat, with about ninety-six acres
of land." On his return to London, in 1733, he sent a deed of his
farm in Rhode Island to Yale College, in which it was ordered,
"that the rents of the farm should be appropriated to the
maintenance of the three best scholars in Greek and Latin, who
should reside at College at least nine months in a year, in each
of the three years between their first and second degrees."
President Clap further remarks, that "this premium has been a
great incitement to a laudable ambition to excel in the knowledge
of the classics." It was commonly known as the _Dean's
bounty_.--_Clap's Hist. of Yale Coll._, pp. 37, 38.

The Dean afterwards conveyed to it [Yale College], by a deed
transmitted to Dr. Johnson, his Rhode Island farm, for the
establishment of that _Dean's bounty_, to which sound classical
learning in Connecticut has been much indebted.--_Hist. Sketch of
Columbia Coll._, p. 19.

DEAN SCHOLAR. The person who received the money appropriated by
Dean Berkeley was called the _Dean scholar_.

This premium was formerly called the Dean's bounty, and the person
who received it the _Dean scholar_.--_Sketches of Yale Coll._, p.
87.

DECENT. Tolerable; pretty good. He is a _decent_ scholar; a
_decent_ writer; he is nothing more than _decent_. "This word,"
says Mr. Pickering, in his Vocabulary, "has been in common use at
some of our colleges, but only in the language of conversation.
The adverb _decently_ (and possibly the adjective also) is
sometimes used in a similar manner in some parts of Great
Britain."

The greater part of the pieces it contains may be said to be very
_decently_ written.--_Edinb. Rev._, Vol. I. p. 426.

DECLAMATION. The word is applied especially to the public speaking
and speeches of students in colleges, practised for exercises in
oratory.--_Webster_.

It would appear by the following extract from the old laws of
Harvard College, that original declamations were formerly required
of the students. "The Undergraduates shall in their course declaim
publicly in the hall, in one of the three learned languages; and
in no other without leave or direction from the President, and
immediately give up their declamations fairly written to the
President. And he that neglects this exercise shall be punished by
the President or Tutor that calls over the weekly bill, not
exceeding five shillings. And such delinquent shall within one
week after give in to the President a written declamation
subscribed by himself."--_Laws 1734, in Peirce's Hist. Harv.
Univ._, App., p. 129.

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