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

B >> Benjamin Homer Hall >> A Collection of College Words and Customs




"'Sophomore Exhibition furnished many cases. One man hit by a
Soph-bug, drove eye down into stomach, carrying with it brains and
all inside of the head. In order to draw them back to their proper
place, your Surgeon caused a leaf from Barnum's Autobiography to
be placed on patient's head, thinking that to contain more true,
genuine _suction_ than anything yet discovered.

* * * * *

"'Nebraska _cancers_ have appeared in our ranks, especially in
Missouri division. Surgeon recommends 385 eighty-pounders be
loaded to the muzzle, first with blank cartridges,--to wit, Frank
Pierce and Stephen A. Douglas, Free-Soil sermons, Fern Leaves, Hot
Corn, together with all the fancy literature of the day,--and
cause the same to be fired upon the disputed territory; this would
cause all the breakings out to be removed, and drive off
everybody.'

"The close of the report was as follows. It affected many even to
tears.

"'May you all remember your Surgeon, and may your thoracic duck
ever continue to sail peacefully down the common carrotted
arteries, under the keystone of the arch of the aorta, and not
rush madly into the abominable cavity and eclipse the semi-lunar
dandelions, nor, still worse, play the dickens with the
pneumogastric nerve and auxiliary artery, reverse the doododen,
upset the flamingo, irritate the _high-old-glossus_, and be for
ever lost in the receptaculum chyli. No, no, but, &c. Yours
feelingly,

'Dr. E.L.T.C.O., M.D.'

"Dr. O., we notice, has added a new branch, that of dentistry, to
his former accomplishments. By his new system, his customers are
not obliged to undergo the pain of the operations in person, but,
by merely sending their heads to him, can have everything done
with a great decrease of trouble. From a calf's head thus sent in,
the Doctor, after cutting the gums with a hay-cutter, and filing
between the teeth with a wood-saw, skilfully extracted with a pair
of blacksmith tongs a very great number of molars and incisors.

"Miss Lucy Amazonia Crura Longa Lignea, thirteen feet high, and
Mr. Rattleshanks Don Skyphax, a swain a foot taller, advanced from
the ranks, and were made one by the chaplain. The bride promised
to own the groom, but _protested_ formally against his custody of
her person, property, and progeny. The groom pledged himself to
mend the unmentionables of his spouse, or to resign his own when
required to rock the cradle, and spank the babies. He placed no
ring upon her finger, but instead transferred his whiskers to her
face, when the chaplain pronounced them 'wife and man,' and the
happy pair stalked off, their heads on a level with the
second-story windows.

"Music from the Keeseville Band who were present followed; the
flying artillery fired another salute; the fife and drums struck
up; and the Invincibles took their winding way to the University,
where they were disbanded in good season."


JUNIOR. One in the third year of his collegiate course in an
American college, formerly called JUNIOR SOPHISTER.

See SOPHISTER.

2. One in the first year of his course at a theological seminary.
--_Webster_.


JUNIOR. Noting the third year of the collegiate course in American
colleges, or the first year in the theological
seminaries.--_Webster_.


JUNIOR APPOINTMENTS. At Yale College, there appears yearly, in the
papers conducted by the students, a burlesque imitation of the
regular appointments of the Junior exhibition. These mock
appointments are generally of a satirical nature, referring to
peculiarities of habits, character, or manners. The following,
taken from some of the Yale newspapers, may be considered as
specimens of the subjects usually assigned. Philosophical Oration,
given to one distinguished for a certain peculiarity, subject,
"The Advantage of a Great Breadth of Base." Latin Oration, to a
vain person, subject, "Amor Sui." Dissertations: to a meddling
person, subject, "The Busybody"; to a poor punster, subject,
"Diseased Razors"; to a poor scholar, subject, "Flunk on,--flunk
ever." Colloquy, to a joker whose wit was not estimated, subject,
"Unappreciated Facetiousness." When a play upon names is
attempted, the subject "Perfect Looseness" is assigned to Mr.
Slack; Mr. Barnes discourses upon "_Stability_ of character, or
pull down and build greater"; Mr. Todd treats upon "The Student's
Manual," and incentives to action are presented, based on the line
"Lives of great men all remind us,"
by students who rejoice in the Christian names, George Washington,
Patrick Henry, Martin Van Buren, Andrew Jackson, Charles James
Fox, and Henry Clay.

See MOCK PART.


JUNIOR BACHELOR. One who is in his first year after taking the
degree of Bachelor of Arts.

No _Junior Bachelor_ shall continue in the College after the
commencement in the Summer vacation.--_Laws of Harv. Coll._, 1798,
p. 19.


JUNIOR FELLOW. At Oxford, one who stands upon the foundation of
the college to which he belongs, and is an aspirant for academic
emoluments.--_De Quincey_.

2. At Trinity College, Hartford, a Junior Fellow is one chosen by
the House of Convocation to be a member of the examining committee
for three years. Junior Fellows must have attained the M.A.
degree, and can only be voted for by Masters in Arts. Six Junior
Fellows are elected every three years.


JUNIOR FRESHMAN. The name of the first of the four classes into
which undergraduates are divided at Trinity College, Dublin.


JUNIOR OPTIME. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., those who
occupy the third rank in honors, at the close of the final
examination in the Senate-House, are called _Junior Optimes_.

The third class, or that of _Junior Optimes_, is usually about at
numerous as the first [that of the Wranglers], but its limits are
more extensive, varying from twenty-five to sixty. A majority of
the Classical men are in it; the rest of its contents are those
who have broken down before the examination from ill-health or
laziness, and choose the Junior Optime as an easier pass degree
under their circumstances than the Poll, and those who break down
in the examination; among these last may be sometimes found an
expectant Wrangler.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed.
2d p. 228.

The word is frequently abbreviated.

Two years ago he got up enough of his low subjects to go on among
the _Junior Ops._--_Ibid._, p. 53.

There are only two mathematical papers, and these consist almost
entirely of high questions; what a _Junior Op._ or low Senior Op.
can do in them amounts to nothing.--_Ibid._, p. 286.


JUNIOR SOPHISTER. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., a student
in the second year of his residence is called Junior Soph or
Sophister.

2. In some American colleges, a member of the Junior Class, i.e.
of the third year, was formerly designated a Junior Sophister.

See SOPHISTER.



_K_.


KEEP. To lodge, live, dwell, or inhabit. To _keep_ in such a
place, is to have rooms there. This word, though formerly used
extensively, is now confined to colleges and universities.

Inquire of anybody you meet in the court of a college at Cambridge
your way to Mr. A----'s room, you will be told that he _keeps_ on
such a staircase, up so many pair of stairs, door to the right or
left.--_Forby's Vocabulary_, Vol. II. p. 178.

He said I ought to have asked for his rooms, or inquired where he
_kept_.--_Gent. Mag._, 1795, p. 118.

Dr. Johnson, in his Dictionary, cites this very apposite passage
from Shakespeare: "Knock at the study where they say he keeps."
Mr. Pickering, in his Vocabulary, says of the word: "This is noted
as an Americanism in the Monthly Anthology, Vol. V. p. 428. It is
less used now than formerly."

_To keep an act_, in the English universities, "to perform an
exercise in the public schools preparatory to the proceeding in
degrees." The phrase was formerly in use in Harvard College. In an
account in the Mass. Hist. Coll., Vol. I. p. 245, entitled New
England's First Fruits, is the following in reference to that
institution: "The students of the first classis that have beene
these foure yeeres trained up in University learning, and are
approved for their manners, as they have _kept their publick Acts_
in former yeeres, ourselves being present at them; so have they
lately _kept two solemn Acts_ for their Commencement."

_To keep chapel_, in colleges, to attend Divine services, which
are there performed daily.

"As you have failed to _make up your number_ of chapels the last
two weeks," such are the very words of the Dean, "you will, if you
please, _keep every chapel_ till the end of the term."--_Household
Words_, Vol. II. p. 161.

_To keep a term_, in universities, is to reside during a
term.--_Webster_.


KEYS. Caius, the name of one of the colleges in the University of
Cambridge, Eng., is familiarly pronounced _Keys_.


KINGSMAN. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., a member of King's
College.

He came out the winner, with the _Kingsman_ and one of our three
close at his heels.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed.
2d, p. 127.


KITCHEN-HATCH. A half-door between the kitchen and the hall in
colleges and old mansions. At Harvard College, the students in
former times received at the _kitchen-hatch_ their food for the
evening meal, which they were allowed to eat in the yard or at
their rooms. At the same place the waiters also took the food
which they carried to the tables.

The waiters when the bell rings at meal-time shall take the
victuals at the _kitchen-hatch_, and carry the Same to the several
tables for which they are designed.--_Laws Harv. Coll._, 1798, p.
41.

See BUTTERY-HATCH.


KNOCK IN. A phrase used at Oxford, and thus explained in the
Collegian's Guide: "_Knocking in_ late, or coming into college
after eleven or twelve o'clock, is punished frequently with being
'confined to gates,' or being forbidden to '_knock in_' or come in
after nine o'clock for a week or more, sometimes all the
term."--p. 161.


KNOCKS. From KNUCKLES. At some of the Southern colleges, a game at
marbles called _Knucks_ is a common diversion among the students.


[Greek: Kudos]. Greek; literally, _glory, fame_. Used among
students, with the meaning _credit, reputation_.

I was actuated not merely by a desire after the promotion of my
own [Greek: kudos], but by an honest wish to represent my country
well.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, pp. 27,
28.



_L_.


LANDSMANNSCHAFT. German. The name of an association of students in
German universities.


LAP-EAR. At Washington College, Penn., students of a religious
character are called _lap-ears_ or _donkeys_. The opposite class
are known by the common name of _bloods_.


LATIN SPOKEN AT COLLEGES. At our older American colleges, students
were formerly required to be able to speak and write Latin before
admission, and to continue the use of it after they had become
members. In his History of Harvard University, Quincy remarks on
this subject:--

"At a period when Latin was the common instrument of communication
among the learned, and the official language of statesmen, great
attention was naturally paid to this branch of education.
Accordingly, 'to speak true Latin, both in prose and verse,' was
made an essential requisite for admission. Among the 'Laws and
Liberties' of the College we also find the following: 'The
scholars _shall never use their mother tongue_, except that, in
public exercises of oratory or such like, they be called to make
them in English.' This law appears upon the records of the College
in the Latin as well as in the English language. The terms in the
former are indeed less restrictive and more practical: 'Scholares
vernacula lingua, _intra Collegii limites_, nullo pretextu
utentur.' There is reason to believe that those educated at the
College, and destined for the learned professions, acquired an
adequate acquaintance with the Latin, and those destined to become
divines, with the Greek and Hebrew. In other respects, although
the sphere of instruction was limited, it was sufficient for the
age and country, and amply supplied all their purposes and wants."
--Vol. I. pp. 193, 194.

By the laws of 1734, the undergraduates were required to "declaim
publicly in the hall, in one of the three learned languages; and
in no other without leave or direction from the President." The
observance of this rule seems to have been first laid aside, when,
"at an Overseers' meeting at the College, April 27th, 1756, John
Vassall, Jonathan Allen, Tristram Gilman, Thomas Toppan, Edward
Walker, Samuel Barrett, presented themselves before the Board, and
pronounced, in the respective characters assigned them, a dialogue
in _the English tongue_, translated from Castalio, and then
withdrew,"--_Peirce's Hist. Harv. Univ._, p. 240.

The first English Oration was spoken by Mr. Jedediah Huntington in
the year 1763, and the first English Poem by Mr. John Davis in
1781.

In reference to this subject, as connected with Yale College,
President Wholsey remarks, in his Historical Discourse:--

"With regard to practice in the learned languages, particularly
the Latin, it is prescribed that 'no scholar shall use the English
tongue in the College with his fellow-scholars, unless he be
called to a public exercise proper to be attended in the English
tongue, but scholars in their chambers, and when they are
together, shall talk Latin.'"--p. 59.

"The fluent use of Latin was acquired by the great body of the
students; nay, certain phrases were caught up by the very cooks in
the kitchen. Yet it cannot be said that elegant Latin was either
spoken or written. There was not, it would appear, much practice
in writing this language, except on the part of those who were
candidates for Berkeleian prizes. And the extant specimens of
Latin discourses written by the officers of the College in the
past century are not eminently Ciceronian in their style. The
speaking of Latin, which was kept up as the College dialect in
rendering excuses for absences, in syllogistic disputes, and in
much of the intercourse between the officers and students, became
nearly extinct about the time of Dr. Dwight's accession. And at
the same period syllogistic disputes as distinguished from
forensic seem to have entirely ceased."--p. 62.

The following story is from the Sketches of Yale College. "In
former times, the students were accustomed to assemble together to
render excuses for absence in Latin. One of the Presidents was in
the habit of answering to almost every excuse presented, 'Ratio
non sufficit' (The reason is not sufficient). On one occasion, a
young man who had died a short time previous was called upon for
an excuse. Some one answered, 'Mortuus est' (He is dead). 'Ratio
non sufficit,' repeated the grave President, to the infinite
merriment of his auditors."--p. 182.

The story is current of one of the old Presidents of Harvard
College, that, wishing to have a dog that had strayed in at
evening prayers driven out of the Chapel, he exclaimed, half in
Latin and half in English, "Exclude canem, et shut the door." It
is also related that a Freshman who had been shut up in the
buttery by some Sophomores, and had on that account been absent
from a recitation, when called upon with a number of others to
render an excuse, not knowing how to express his ideas in Latin,
replied in as learned a manner as possible, hoping that his answer
would pass as Latin, "Shut m' up in t' Buttery."

A very pleasant story, entitled "The Tutor's Ghost," in which are
narrated the misfortunes which befell a tutor in the olden time,
on account of his inability to remember the Latin for the word
"beans," while engaged in conversation, may be found in the "Yale
Literary Magazine," Vol. XX. pp. 190-195.

See NON PARAVI and NON VALUI.


LAUREATE. To honor with a degree in the university, and a present
of a wreath of laurel.--_Warton_.


LAUREATION. The act of conferring a degree in the university,
together with a wreath of laurel; an honor bestowed on those who
excelled in writing verse. This was an ancient practice at Oxford,
from which, probably, originated the denomination of _poet
laureate_.--_Warton_.

The laurel crown, according to Brande, "was customarily given at
the universities in the Middle Ages to such persons as took
degrees in grammar and rhetoric, of which poetry formed a branch;
whence, according to some authors, the term Baccalaureatus has
been derived. The academical custom of bestowing the laurel, and
the court custom, were distinct, until the former was abolished.
The last instance in which the laurel was bestowed in the
universities, was in the reign of Henry the Eighth."


LAWS. In early times, the laws in the oldest colleges in the
United States were as often in Latin as in English. They were
usually in manuscript, and the students were required to make
copies for themselves on entering college. The Rev. Henry Dunster,
who was the first President of Harvard College, formed the first
code of laws for the College. They were styled, "The Laws,
Liberties, and Orders of Harvard College, confirmed by the
Overseers and President of the College in the years 1642, 1643,
1644, 1645, and 1646, and published to the scholars for the
perpetual preservation of their welfare and government." Referring
to him, Quincy says: "Under his administration, the first code of
laws was formed; rules of admission, and the principles on which
degrees should be granted, were established; and scholastic forms,
similar to those customary in the English universities, were
adopted; many of which continue, with little variation, to be used
at the present time."--_Hist. Harv. Univ._, Vol. I. p. 15.

In 1732, the laws were revised, and it was voted that they should
all be in Latin, and that each student should have a copy, which
he was to write out for himself and subscribe. In 1790, they were
again revised and printed in English, since which time many
editions have been issued.

Of the laws of Yale College, President Woolsey gives the following
account, in his Historical Discourse before the Graduates of that
institution, Aug. 14, 1850:--

"In the very first year of the legal existence of the College, we
find the Trustees ordaining, that, 'until they should provide
further, the Rector or Tutors should make use of the orders and
institutions of Harvard College, for the instructing and ruling of
the collegiate school, so far as they should judge them suitable,
and wherein the Trustees had not at that meeting made provision.'
The regulations then made by the Trustees went no further than to
provide for the religious education of the College, and to give to
the College officers the power of imposing extraordinary school
exercises or degradation in the class. The earliest known laws of
the College belong to the years 1720 and 1726, and are in
manuscript; which is explained by the custom that every Freshman,
on his admission, was required to write off a copy of them for
himself, to which the admittatur of the officers was subscribed.
In the year 1745 a new revision of the laws was completed, which
exists in manuscript; but the first printed code was in Latin, and
issued from the press of T. Green at New London, in 1748. Various
editions, with sundry changes in them, appeared between that time
and the year 1774, when the first edition in English saw the
light.

"It is said of this edition, that it was printed by particular
order of the Legislature. That honorable body, being importuned to
extend aid to the College, not long after the time when President
Clap's measures had excited no inconsiderable ill-will, demanded
to see the laws; and accordingly a bundle of the Latin laws--the
only ones in existence--were sent over to the State-House. Not
admiring legislation in a dead language, and being desirous to pry
into the mysteries which it sealed up from some of the members,
they ordered the code to be translated. From that time the
numberless editions of the laws have all been in the English
tongue."--pp. 45, 46.

The College of William and Mary, which was founded in 1693,
imitated in its laws and customs the English universities, but
especially the University of Oxford. The other colleges which were
founded before the Revolution, viz. New Jersey College, Columbia
College, Pennsylvania University, Brown University, Dartmouth, and
Rutgers College, "generally imitated Harvard in the order of
classes, the course of studies, the use of text-books, and the
manner of instruction."--_Am. Quart. Reg._, Vol. XV. 1843, p. 426.

The colleges which were founded after the Revolution compiled
their laws, in a great measure, from those of the above-named
colleges.


LEATHER MEDAL. At Harvard College, the _leather Medal_ was
formerly bestowed upon the _laziest_ fellow in College. He was to
be last at recitation, last at commons, seldom at morning prayers,
and always asleep in church.


LECTURE. A discourse _read_, as the derivation of the word
implies, by a professor to his pupils; more generally, it is
applied to every species of instruction communicated _viva voce_.
--_Brande_.

In American colleges, lectures form a part of the collegiate
instruction, especially during the last two years, in the latter
part of which, in some colleges, they divide the time nearly
equally with recitations.

2. A rehearsal of a lesson.--_Eng. Univ._

Of this word, De Quincey says: "But what is the meaning of a
lecture in Oxford and elsewhere? Elsewhere, it means a solemn
dissertation, read, or sometimes histrionically declaimed, by the
professor. In Oxford, it means an exercise performed orally by the
students, occasionally assisted by the tutor, and subject, in its
whole course, to his corrections, and what may be called his
_scholia_, or collateral suggestions and improvements."--_Life and
Manners_, p. 253.


LECTURER. At the University of Cambridge, England, the _lecturers_
assist in tuition, and especially attend to the exercises of the
students in Greek and Latin composition, themes, declamations,
verses, &c.--_Cam. Guide_.


LEM. At Williams College, a privy.

Night had thrown its mantle over earth. Sol had gone to lay his
weary head in the lap of Thetis, as friend Hudibras has it; The
horned moon, and the sweet pale stars, were looking serenely! upon
the darkened earth, when the denizens of this little village were
disturbed by the cry of fire. The engines would have been rattling
through the streets with considerable alacrity, if the fathers of
the town had not neglected to provide them; but the energetic
citizens were soon on hand. There was much difficulty in finding
where the fire was, and heads and feet were turned in various
directions, till at length some wight of superior optical powers
discovered a faint, ruddy light in the rear of West College. It
was an ancient building,--a time-honored structure,--an edifice
erected by our forefathers, and by them christened LEMUEL, which
in the vernacular tongue is called _Lem_ "for short." The
dimensions of the edifice were about 120 by 62 inches. The loss is
almost irreparable, estimated at not less than 2,000 pounds,
avoirdupois. May it rise like a Phoenix from its ashes!--_Williams
Monthly Miscellany_, 1845, Vol. I. p. 464, 465.


LETTER HOME. A writer in the American Literary Magazine thus
explains and remarks upon the custom of punishing students by
sending a letter to their parents:--"In some institutions, there
is what is called the '_letter home_,'--which, however, in justice
to professors and tutors in general, we ought to say, is a
punishment inflicted upon parents for sending their sons to
college, rather than upon delinquent students. A certain number of
absences from matins or vespers, or from recitations, entitles the
culprit to a heartrending epistle, addressed, not to himself, but
to his anxious father or guardian at home. The document is always
conceived in a spirit of severity, in order to make it likely to
take effect. It is meant to be impressive, less by the heinousness
of the offence upon which it is predicated, than by the pregnant
terms in which it is couched. It often creates a misery and
anxiety far away from the place wherein it is indited, not because
it is understood, but because it is misunderstood and exaggerated
by the recipient. While the student considers it a farcical
proceeding, it is a leaf of tragedy to fathers and mothers. Then
the thing is explained. The offence is sifted. The father finds
out that less than a dozen morning naps are all that is necessary
to bring about this stupendous correspondence. The moral effect of
the act of discipline is neutralized, and the parent is perhaps
too glad, at finding his anxiety all but groundless, to denounce
the puerile, infant-school system, which he has been made to
comprehend by so painful a process."--Vol. IV. p. 402.

Avaunt, ye terrific dreams of "failures," "conditions," "_letters
home_," and "admonitions."--_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. III. p. 407.

The birch twig sprouts into--_letters home_ and
dismissions.--_Ibid._, Vol. XIII. p. 869.

But if they, capricious through long indulgence, did not choose to
get up, what then? Why, absent marks and _letters home_.--_Yale
Banger_, Oct. 22, 1847.