Chapter III (15)

One very well disposed and very tipsy man who was great upon boats, but very _slow_ at books, endeavored to pacify me.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 82.

The Juniors vainly attempted to show
That Sophs and Seniors were somewhat _slow_
In talent and ability.
_Sophomore Independent, Union College_, Nov. 1854.

SLOW-COACH. A dull, stupid fellow.

SLUM. A word once in use at Yale College, of which a graduate of the year 1821 has given the annexed explanation. "That noted dish to which our predecessors, of I know not what date, gave the name of _slum_, which was our ordinary breakfast, consisting of the remains of yesterday's boiled salt-beef and potatoes, hashed up, and indurated in a frying-pan, was of itself enough to have produced any amount of dyspepsia. There are stomachs, it may be, which can put up with any sort of food, and any mode of cookery; but they are not those of students. I remember an anecdote which President Day gave us (as an instance of hasty generalization), which would not be inappropriate here: 'A young physician, commencing practice, determined to keep an account of each case he had to do with, stating the mode of treatment and the result. His first patient was a blacksmith, sick of a fever. After the crisis of the disease had passed, the man expressed a hankering for pork and cabbage. The doctor humored him in this, and it seemed to do him good; which was duly noted in the record. Next a tailor sent for him, whom he found suffering from the same malady. To him he _prescribed_ pork and cabbage; and the patient died. Whereupon, he wrote it down as a general law in such cases, that pork and cabbage will cure a blacksmith, but will kill a tailor.' Now, though the son of Vulcan found the pork and cabbage harmless, I am sure that _slum_ would have been a match for him."--_Scenes and Characters at College_, New Haven, 1847, p. 117.

SLUMP. German _schlump_; Danish and Swedish _slump_, a hap or chance, an accident; that is, a fall.

At Harvard College, a poor recitation.

SLUMP. At Harvard College, to recite badly; to make a poor recitation.

In fact, he'd rather dead than dig;
he'd rather _slump_ than squirt.
_Poem before the Y.H. of Harv. Coll._, 1849.

_Slumping_ is his usual custom,
Deading is his road to fame.--_MS. Poem_.

At recitations, unprepared, he _slumps_,
Then cuts a week, and feigns he has the mumps.
_MS. Poem_, by F.E. Felton.

The usual signification of this word is given by Webster, as follows: "To fall or sink suddenly into water or mud, when walking on a hard surface, as on ice or frozen ground, not strong enough to bear the person." To which he adds: "This legitimate word is in common and respectable use in New England, and its signification is so appropriate, that no other word will supply its place."

From this meaning, the transfer is, by analogy, very easy and natural, and the application very correct, to a poor recitation.

SMALL-COLLEGE. The name by which an inferior college in the English universities is known.

A "_Small-College_" man was Senior Wrangler.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 61.

SMALL-COLLEGER. A member of a Small-College.

The two Latin prizes and the English poem [were carried off] by a _Small-Colleger_.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 113.

The idea of a _Small-Colleger_ beating all Trinity was deemed preposterous.--_Ibid._, p. 127.

SMALLS, or SMALL-GO. At the University of Oxford, an examination in the second year. See LITTLE-GO; PREVIOUS EXAMINATION.

At the _Smalls_, as the previous Examination is here called, each examiner sends in his Greek and Latin book.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 139.

It follows that the _Smalls_ is a more formidable examination than the Little-Go.--_Ibid._, p. 139.

SMASH. At the Wesleyan University, a total failure in reciting is called a _smash_.

SMILE. A small quantity of any spirituous liquor, or enough to give one a pleasant feeling.

Hast ta'en a "_smile_" at Brigham's.
_Poem before the Iadma_, 1850, p. 7.

SMOKE. In some colleges, one of the means made use of by the Sophomores to trouble the Freshmen is to blow smoke into their rooms until they are compelled to leave, or, in other words, until they are _smoked out_. When assafoetida is mingled with the tobacco, the sensation which ensues, as the foul effluvium is gently wafted through the keyhole, is anything but pleasing to the olfactory nerves.

Or when, in conclave met, the unpitying wights
_Smoke_ the young trembler into "College rights":
O spare my tender youth! he, suppliant, cries,
In vain, in vain; redoubled clouds arise,
While the big tears adown his visage roll,
Caused by the smoke, and sorrow of his soul.
_College Life, by J.C. Richmond_, p. 4.

They would lock me in if I left my key outside, _smoke me out_, duck me, &c.--_Sketches of Williams College_, p. 74.

I would not have you sacrifice all these advantages for the sake _of smoking_ future Freshmen.--_Burial of Euclid_, 1850, p. 10.

A correspondent from the University of Vermont gives the following account of a practical joke, which we do not suppose is very often played in all its parts. "They 'train' Freshmen in various ways; the most _classic_ is to take a pumpkin, cut a piece from the top, clean it, put in two pounds of 'fine cut,' put it on the Freshman's table, and then, all standing round with long pipe-stems, blow into it the fire placed in the _tobac_, and so fill the room with smoke, then put the Freshman to bed, with the pumpkin for a nightcap."

SMOUGE. At Hamilton College, to obtain without leave.

SMUT. Vulgar, obscene conversation. Language which obtains

"Where Bacchus ruleth all that's done,
And Venus all that's said."

SMUTTY. Possessing the qualities of obscene conversation. Applied also to the person who uses such conversation.

SNOB. In the English universities, a townsman, as opposed to a student; or a blackguard, as opposed to a gentleman; a loafer generally.--_Bristed_.

They charged the _Snobs_ against their will,
And shouted clear and lustily.
_Gradus ad Cantab_, p. 69.

Used in the same sense at some American colleges.

2. A mean or vulgar person; particularly, one who apes gentility. --_Halliwell_.

Used both in England and the United States, "and recently," says Webster, "introduced into books as a term of derision."

SNOBBESS. In the English universities, a female _snob_.

Effeminacies like these, induced, no doubt, by the flattering admiration of the fair _snobbesses_.--_Alma Mater_, Vol. II. p. 116.

SNOBBISH. Belonging to or resembling a _snob_.

SNOBBY. Low; vulgar; resembling or pertaining to a _snob_.

SNUB. To reprimand; check; rebuke. Used among students, more frequently than by any other class of persons.

SOPH. In the University of Cambridge, England, an abbreviation of SOPHISTER.--_Webster_.

On this word, Crabb, in his _Technological Dictionary_, says: "A certain distinction or title which undergraduates in the University at Oxford assume, previous to their examination for a degree. It took its rise in the exercises which students formerly had to go through, but which are now out of use."

Three College _Sophs_, and three pert Templars came,
The same their talents, and their tastes the same.
_Pope's Dunciad_, B. II. v. 389, 390.

2. In the American colleges, an abbreviation of Sophomore.

_Sophs_ wha ha' in Commons fed!
_Sophs_ wha ha' in Commons bled!
_Sophs_ wha ne'er from Commons fled!
Puddings, steaks, or wines!
_Rebelliad_, p. 52.

The _Sophs_ did nothing all the first fortnight but torment the Fresh, as they call us.--_Harvardiana_, Vol. III. p. 76.

The _Sophs_ were victorious at every point.--_Yale Banger_, Nov. 10, 1846.

My Chum, a _Soph_, says he committed himself too soon.--_The Dartmouth_, Vol. IV. p. 118.

SOPHIC. A contraction of sophomoric.

So then the _Sophic_ army
Came on in warlike glee.
_The Battle of the Ball_, 1853.

SOPHIMORE. The old manner of spelling what is now known as SOPHOMORE.

The President may give Leave for the _Sophimores_ to take out some particular Books.--_Laws Yale Coll._, 1774, p. 23.

His favorite researches, however, are discernible in his observations on a comet, which appeared in the beginning of his _Sophimore_ year.--_Holmes's Life of Ezra Stiles_, p. 13.

I aver thou hast never been a corporal in the militia, or a _sophimore_ at college.--_The Algerine Captive_, Walpole, 1797, Vol. I. p. 68.

SOPHISH GOWN. Among certain gownsmen, a gown that bears the marks of much service; "a thing of shreds and patches."--_Gradus ad Cantab._

SOPHIST. A name given to the undergraduates at Cambridge, England. --_Crabb's Tech. Dict._

SOPHISTER. Greek, [Greek: sophistaes]. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., the title of students who are advanced beyond the first year of their residence. The entire course at the University consists of three years and one term, during which the students have the titles of First-Year Men, or Freshmen; Second-Year Men, or Junior Sophs or Sophisters; Third-Year Men, or Senior Sophs or Sophisters; and, in the last term, Questionists, with reference to the approaching examination. In the older American colleges, the Junior and Senior Classes were originally called Junior Sophisters and Senior Sophisters. The term is also used at Oxford and Dublin. --_Webster_.

And in case any of the _Sophisters_ fail in the premises required at their hands, &c.--_Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ._, Vol. I. p. 518.

SOPHOMORE. One belonging to the second of the four classes in an American college.

Professor Goodrich, in his unabridged edition of Dr. Webster's Dictionary, gives the following interesting account of this word. "This word has generally been considered as an 'American barbarism,' but was probably introduced into our country, at a very early period, from the University of Cambridge, Eng. Among the cant terms at that University, as given in the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, we find _Soph-Mor_ as 'the next distinctive appellation to Freshman.' It is added, that 'a writer in the Gentlemen's Magazine thinks _mor_ an abbreviation of the Greek [Greek: moria], introduced at a time when the _Encomium Moriæ_, the Praise of Folly, by Erasmus, was so generally used.' The ordinary derivation of the word, from [Greek: sofos] and [Greek: moros] would seem, therefore, to be incorrect. The younger Sophs at Cambridge appear, formerly, to have received the adjunct _mor_ ([Greek: moros]) to their names, either as one which they courted for the reason mentioned above, or as one given them in sport, for the supposed exhibition of inflated feeling in entering on their new honors. The term, thus applied, seems to have passed, at a very early period, from Cambridge in England to Cambridge in America, as 'the next distinctive appellation to Freshman,' and thus to have been attached to the second of the four classes in our American colleges; while it has now almost ceased to be known, even as a cant word, at the parent institution in England whence it came. This derivation of the word is rendered more probable by the fact, that the early spelling was, to a great extent at least, Soph_i_more, as appears from the manuscripts of President Stiles of Yale College, and the records of Harvard College down to the period of the American Revolution. This would be perfectly natural if _Soph_ or _Sophister_ was considered as the basis of the word, but can hardly be explained if the ordinary derivation had then been regarded as the true one."

Some further remarks on this word may be found in the Gentleman's Magazine, above referred to, 1795, Vol. LXV. p. 818.

SOPHOMORE COMMENCEMENT. At Princeton College, it has long been the custom for the Sophomore Class, near the time of the Commencement at the close of the Senior year, to hold a Commencement in imitation of it, at which burlesque and other exercises, appropriate to the occasion, are performed. The speakers chosen are a Salutatorian, a Poet, an Historian, who reads an account of the doings of the Class up to that period, a Valedictorian, &c., &c. A band of music is always in attendance. After the addresses, the Class partake of a supper, which is usually prolonged to a very late hour. In imitation of the Sophomore Commencement, _Burlesque Bills_, as they are called, are prepared and published by the Juniors, in which, in a long and formal programme, such subjects and speeches are attributed to the members of the Sophomore Class as are calculated to expose their weak points.

SOPHOMORIC, SOPHOMORICAL. Pertaining to or like a Sophomore.

Better to face the prowling panther's path,
Than meet the storm of _Sophomoric_ wrath.
_Harvardiana_, Vol. IV. p. 22.

We trust he will add by his example no significancy to that pithy word, "_Sophomoric_."--_Sketches of Williams Coll._, p. 63.

Another meaning, derived, it would appear, from the characteristics of the Sophomore, yet not very creditable to him, is _bombastic, inflated in style or manner_.--_J.C. Calhoun_.

Students are looked upon as being necessarily _Sophomorical_ in literary matters.--_Williams Quarterly_, Vol. II. p. 84.

The Professor told me it was rather _Sophomorical_.--_Sketches of Williams Coll._, p. 74.

SOPHRONISCUS. At Yale College, this name is given to Arnold's Greek Prose Composition, from the fact of its repeated occurrence in that work.

_Sophroniscum_ relinquemus;
Et Euclidem comburemus,
Ejus vi soluti.
_Pow-wow of Class of '58, Yale Coll._

See BALBUS.

SPIRT. Among the students at the University of Cambridge, Eng., an extraordinary effort of mind or body for a short time. A boat's crew _make a spirt_, when they pull fifty yards with all the strength they have left. A reading-man _makes_ _a spirt_ when he crams twelve hours daily the week before examination.--_Bristed_.

As my ... health was decidedly improving, I now attempted a "_spirt_," or what was one for me.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 223.

My amateur Mathematical coach, who was now making his last _spirt_ for a Fellowship, used to accompany me.--_Ibid._, p. 288.

He reads nine hours a day on a "_spirt_" the fortnight before examination.--_Ibid._, p. 327.

SPIRTING. Making an extraordinary effort of mind or body for a short time.--_Bristed_.

Ants, bees, boat-crews _spirting_ at the Willows,... are but faint types of their activity.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 224.

SPLURGE. In many colleges, when one is either dashy, or dressed more than ordinarily, he is said to _cut a splurge_. A showy recitation is often called by the same name. In his Dictionary of Americanisms, Mr. Bartlett defines it, "a great effort, a demonstration," which is the signification in which this word is generally used.

SPLURGY. Showy; of greater surface than depth. Applied to a lesson which is well rehearsed but little appreciated. Also to literary efforts of a certain nature, to character, persons, &c.

They even pronounce his speeches _splurgy_.--_Yale Tomahawk_, May, 1852.

SPOON. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., the last of each class of the honors is humorously denominated _The Spoon_. Thus, the last Wrangler is called the Golden Spoon; the last Senior Optime, the Silver Spoon; and the last Junior Optime, the Wooden Spoon. The Wooden Spoon, however, is _par excellence_, "The Spoon."--_Gradus ad Cantab._

See WOODEN SPOON.

SPOON, SPOONY, SPOONEY. A man who has been drinking till he becomes disgusting by his very ridiculous behavior, is said to be _spoony_ drunk; and hence it is usual to call a very prating, shallow fellow a rank _spoon_.--_Grose_.

Mr. Bartlett, in his Dictionary of Americanisms, says:--"We use the word only in the latter sense. The Hon. Mr. Preston, in his remarks on the Mexican war, thus quotes from Tom Crib's remonstrance against the meanness of a transaction, similar to our cries for more vigorous blows on Mexico when she is prostrate:

"'Look down upon Ben,--see him, _dunghill_ all o'er,
Insult the fallen foe that can harm him no more.
Out, cowardly _spooney_! Again and again,
By the fist of my father, I blush for thee, Ben.'

"Ay, you will see all the _spooneys_ that ran, like so many _dunghill_ champions, from 54 40, stand by the President for the vigorous prosecution of the war upon the body of a prostrate foe." --_N.Y. Tribune_, 1847.

Now that year it so happened that the spoon was no _spooney_.--_Alma Mater_, Vol. I. p. 218.

Not a few of this party were deluded into a belief, that all studious and quiet men were slow, all men of proper self-respect exclusives, and all men of courtesy and good-breeding _spoonies_. --_Collegian's Guide_, p. 118.

Suppose that rustication was the fate of a few others of our acquaintance, whom you cannot call slow, or _spoonies_ either, would it be deemed no disgrace by them?--_Ibid._, p. 196.

When _spoonys_ on two knees, implore the aid of sorcery,
To suit their wicked purposes they quickly put the laws awry.
_Rejected Addresses_, Am. ed., p. 154.

They belong to the class of elderly "_spoons_," with some few exceptions, and are nettled that the world should not go at their rate of progression.--_Boston Daily Times_, May 8, 1851.

SPOONY, SPOONEY. Like a _spoon_; possessing the qualities of a silly or stupid fellow.

I shall escape from this beautiful critter, for I'm gettin' _spooney_, and shall talk silly presently.--_Sam Slick_.

Both the adjective and the noun _spooney_ are in constant and frequent use at some of the American colleges, and are generally applied to one who is disliked either for his bad qualities or for his ill-breeding, usually accompanied with the idea of weakness.

He sprees, is caught, rusticates, returns next year, mingles with feminines, and is consequently degraded into the _spooney_ Junior. _Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XV. p. 208.

A "bowl" was the happy conveyance. Perhaps this was chosen because the voyagers were _spooney_.--_Yale Banger_, Nov. 1849.

SPOOPS, SPOOPSY. At Harvard College, a weak, silly fellow, or one who is disliked on account of his foolish actions, is called a _spoops_, or _spoopsy_. The meaning is nearly the same as that of _spoony_.

SPOOPSY. Foolish; silly. Applied either to a person or thing.

Seniors always try to be dignified. The term "_spoopsey_" in its widest signification applies admirably to them.--_Yale Tomahawk_, May, 1852.

SPORT. To exhibit or bring out in public; as, to _sport_ a new equipage.--_Grose_.

This word was in great vogue in England in the year 1783 and 1784; but is now sacred to men of _fashion_, both in England and America.

With regard to the word _sport_, they [the Cantabrigians] _sported_ knowing, and they _sported_ ignorant,--they _sported_ an Ægrotat, and they _sported_ a new coat,--they _sported_ an Exeat, they _sported_ a Dormiat, &c.--_Gent. Mag._, 1794, p. 1085.

I'm going to serve my country,
And _sport_ a pretty wife.
_Presentation Day Songs_, June 14, 1854, Yale Coll.

To _sport oak_, or a door, is to fasten a door for safety or convenience.

If you call on a man and his door is _sported_, signifying that he is out or busy, it is customary to pop your card through the little slit made for that purpose.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 336.

Some few constantly turn the keys of their churlish doors, and others, from time to time, "_sport oak_."--_Harv. Mag._, Vol. I. p. 268.

SPORTING-DOOR. At the English universities, the name given to the outer door of a student's room, which can be _sported_ or fastened to prevent intrusion.

Their impregnable _sporting-doors_, that defy alike the hostile dun and the too friendly "fast man."--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 3.

SPREAD. A feast of a more humble description than a GAUDY. Used at Cambridge, England.

This puts him in high spirits again, and he gives a large _spread_, and gets drunk on the strength of it.--_Gradus ad Cantab._, p. 129.

He sits down with all of them, about forty or fifty, to a most glorious _spread_, ordered from the college cook, to be served up in the most swell style possible.--_Ibid._, p. 129.

SPROUT. Any _branch_ of education is in student phrase a _sprout_. This peculiar use of the word is said to have originated at Yale.

SPRUNG. The positive, of which _tight_ is the comparative, and _drunk_ the superlative.

"One swallow makes not spring," the poet sung,
But many swallows make the fast man _sprung_.
_MS. Poem_, by F.E. Felton.

See TIGHT.

SPY. In some of the American colleges, it is a prevailing opinion among the students, that certain members of the different classes are encouraged by the Faculty to report what they have seen or ascertained in the conduct of their classmates, contrary to the laws of the college. Many are stigmatized as _spies_ very unjustly, and seldom with any sufficient reason.

SQUIRT. At Harvard College, a showy recitation is denominated a _squirt_; the ease and quickness with which the words flow from the mouth being analogous to the ease and quickness which attend the sudden ejection of a stream of water from a pipe. Such a recitation being generally perfect, the word _squirt_ is very often used to convey that idea. Perhaps there is not, in the whole vocabulary of college cant terms, one more expressive than this, or that so easily conveys its meaning merely by its sound. It is mostly used colloquially.

2. A foppish young fellow; a whipper-snapper.--_Bartlett_.

If they won't keep company with _squirts_ and dandies, who's going to make a monkey of himself?--_Maj. Jones's Courtship_, p. 160.

SQUIRT. To make a showy recitation.

He'd rather slump than _squirt_.
_Poem before Y.H._, p. 9.

Webster has this word with the meaning, "to throw out words, to let fly," and marks it as out of use.

SQUIRTINESS. The quality of being showy.

SQUIRTISH. Showy; dandified.

It's my opinion that these slicked up _squirtish_ kind a fellars ain't particular hard baked, and they always goes in for aristocracy notions.--_Robb, Squatter Life_, p. 73.

SQUIRTY. Showy; fond of display; gaudy.

Applied to an oration which is full of bombast and grandiloquence; to a foppish fellow; to an apartment gayly adorned, &c.

And should they "scrape" in prayers, because they are long
And rather "_squirty_" at times.
_Childe Harvard_, p. 58.

STAMMBOOK. German. A remembrance-book; an album. Among the German students stammbooks were kept formerly, as commonly as autograph-books now are among American students.

But do procure me the favor of thy Rapunzel writing something in my _Stammbook_.--_Howitt's Student Life of Germany_, Am. ed., p. 242.

STANDING. Academical age, or rank.

Of what _standing_ are you? I am a Senior Soph.--_Gradus ad Cantab._

Her mother told me all about your love,
And asked me of your prospects and your _standing_.
_Collegian_, 1830, p. 267.

_To stand for an honor_; i.e. to offer one's self as a candidate for an honor.

STAR. In triennial catalogues a star designates those who have died. This sign was first used with this signification by Mather, in his Magnalia, in a list prepared by him of the graduates of Harvard College, with a fanciful allusion, it is supposed, to the abode of those thus marked.

Our tale shall be told by a silent _star_,
On the page of some future Triennial.
_Poem before Class of 1849, Harv. Coll._, p. 4.

We had only to look still further back to find the _stars_ clustering more closely, indicating the rapid flight of the spirits of short-lived tenants of earth to another sphere.--_Memories of Youth and Manhood_, Vol. II. p. 66.

STAR. To mark a star opposite the name of a person, signifying that he is dead.

Six of the sixteen Presidents of our University have been inaugurated in this place; and the oldest living graduate, the Hon. Paine Wingate of Stratham, New Hampshire, who stands on the Catalogue a lonely survivor amidst the _starred_ names of the dead, took his degree within these walls.--_A Sermon on leaving the Old Meeting-house in Cambridge_, by Rev. William Newell, Dec. 1, 1833, p. 22.

Among those fathers were the venerable remnants of classes that are _starred_ to the last two or three, or it may be to the last one.--_Scenes and Characters in College_, p. 6.

STATEMENT OF FACTS. At Yale College, a name given to a public meeting called for the purpose of setting forth the respective merits of the two great societies in that institution, viz. "Linonia" and "The Brothers in Unity." There are six orators, three from Linonia and three from the Brothers,--a Senior, a Junior, and the President of each society. The Freshmen are invited by handsomely printed cards to attend the meeting, and they also have the best seats reserved for them, and are treated with the most intense politeness. As now conducted, the _Statement of Facts_ is any thing rather than what is implied by the name. It is simply an opportunity for the display of speaking talent, in which wit and sarcasm are considered of far greater importance than truth. The Freshmen are rarely swayed to either side. In nine cases out of ten they have already chosen their society, and attend the statement merely from a love of novelty and fun. The custom grew up about the year 1830, after the practice of dividing the students alphabetically between the two societies had fallen into disuse. Like all similar customs, the Statement of Facts has reached its present college importance by gradual growth. At first the societies met in a small room of the College, and the statements did really consist of the facts in the case. Now the exercises take place in a public hall, and form a kind of intellectual tournament, where each society, in the presence of a large audience, strives to get the advantage of the other.

From a newspaper account of the observance of this literary festival during the present year, the annexed extract is taken.

"For some years, students, as they have entered College, have been permitted to choose the society with which they would connect themselves, instead of being alphabetically allotted to one of the two. This method has made the two societies earnest rivals, and the accession of each class to College creates an earnest struggle to see which shall secure the greater number of members. The electioneering campaign, as it is termed, begins when the students come to be examined for admission to College, that is, about the time of the Commencement, and continues through a week or two of the first term of the next year. Each society, of course, puts forth the most determined efforts to conquer. It selects the most prominent and popular men of the Senior Class as President, and arrangements are so made that a Freshman no sooner enters town than he finds himself unexpectedly surrounded by hosts of friends, willing to do anything for him, and especially instruct him in his duty with reference to the selection of societies. For the benefit of those who do not yield to this private electioneering, this Statement of Facts is made. It amounts, however, to little more than a 'good time,' as there are very few who wait to be influenced by 'facts' they know will be so distorted. The advocates of each society feel bound, of course, to present its affairs in the most favorable aspect. Disputants are selected, generally with regard to their ability as speakers, one from the Junior and one from the Senior Class. The Presidents of each society also take part."--_N.Y. Daily Times_, Sept. 22, 1855.

As an illustration of the eloquence and ability which is often displayed on these occasions, the following passages have been selected from the address of John M. Holmes of Chicago, Ill., the Junior orator in behalf of the Brothers in Unity at the Statement of Facts held September 20th, 1855.

"Time forbids me to speak at length of the illustrious alumni of the Brothers; of Professor Thatcher, the favorite of college,--of Professor Silliman, the Nestor of American literati,--of the revered head of this institution, President Woolsey, first President of the Brothers in 1820,--of Professor Andrews, the author of the best dictionary of the Latin language,--of such divines as Dwight and Murdock,--of Bacon and Bushnell, the pride of New England,--or of the great names of Clayton, Badger, Calhoun, Ellsworth, and John Davis,--all of whom were nurtured and disciplined in the halls of the Brothers, and there received the Achillean baptism that made their lives invulnerable. But perhaps I err in claiming such men as the peculium of the Brothers,--they are the common heritage of the human race.

'Such names as theirs are pilgrim shrines,
Shrines to no code nor creed confined,
The Delphian vales, the Palestines,
The Meccas of the mind.'

"But there are other names which to overlook would be worse than negligence,--it would be ingratitude unworthy of a son of Yale.

"At the head of that glorious host stands the venerable form of Joel Barlow, who, in addition to his various civil and literary distinctions, was the father of American poetry. There too is the intellectual brow of Webster, not indeed the great defender of the Constitution, but that other Webster, who spent his life in the perpetuation of that language in which the Constitution is embalmed, and whose memory will be coeval with that language to the latest syllable of recorded time. Beside Webster on the historic canvas appears the form of the only Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States that ever graduated at this College,--Chief Justice Baldwin, of the class of 1797. Next to him is his classmate, a patriarchal old man who still lives to bless the associations of his youth,--who has consecrated the noblest talents to the noblest earthly purposes,--the pioneer of Western education,--the apostle of Temperance,--the life-long teacher of immortality,--and who is the father of an illustrious family whose genius has magnetized all Christendom. His classmate is Lyman Beecher. But a year ago in the neighboring city of Hartford there was a monument erected to another Brother in Unity,--the philanthropist who first introduced into this country the system of instructing deaf mutes. More than a thousand unfortunates bowed around his grave. And although there was no audible voice of eulogy or thankfulness, yet there were many tears. And grateful thoughts went up to heaven in silent benediction for him who had unchained their faculties, and given them the priceless treasures of intellectual and social communion. Thomas H. Gallaudet was a Brother in Unity.

"And he who has been truly called the most learned of poets and the most poetical of learned men,--whose ascent to the heaven of song has been like the pathway of his own broad sweeping eagle,--J.G. Percival,--is a Brother in Unity. And what shall I say of Morse? Of Morse, the wonder-worker, the world-girdler, the space-destroyer, the author of the noblest invention whose glory was ever concentrated in a single man, who has realized the fabulous prerogative of Olympian Jove, and by the instantaneous intercommunication of thought has accomplished the work of ages in binding together the whole civilized world into one great Brotherhood in Unity?

"Gentlemen, these are the men who wait to welcome you to the blessings of our society. There they stand, like the majestic statues that line the entrance to an eternal pyramid. And when I look upon one statue, and another, and another, and contemplate the colossal greatness of their proportions, as Canova gazed with rapture upon the sun-god of the Vatican, I envy not the man whose heart expands not with the sense of a new nobility, and whose eye kindles not with the heart's enthusiasm, as he thinks that he too is numbered among that glorious company,--that he too is sprung from that royal ancestry. And who asks for a richer heritage, or a more enduring epitaph, than that he too is a Brother in Unity?"

S.T.B. _Sanctæ Theologiæ Baccalaureus_, Bachelor in Theology.

See B.D.

S.T.D. _Sanctæ Theologiæ Doctor_. Doctor in Theology.

See D.D.

STEWARD. In colleges, an officer who provides food for the students, and superintends the kitchen.--_Webster_.

In American colleges, the labors of the steward are at present more extended, and not so servile, as set forth in the above definition. To him is usually assigned the duty of making out the term-bills and receiving the money thereon; of superintending the college edifices with respect to repairs, &c.; of engaging proper servants in the employ of the college; and of performing such other services as are declared by the faculty of the college to be within his province.

STICK. In college phrase, _to stick_, or _to get stuck_, is to be unable to proceed, either in a recitation, declamation, or any other exercise. An instructor is said to _stick_ a student, when he asks a question which the student is unable to answer.

But he has not yet discovered, probably, that he ... that "_sticks_" in Greek, and cannot tell, by demonstration of his own, whether the three angles of a triangle are equal to two, or four, ... can nevertheless drawl out the word Fresh, &c.--_Scenes and Characters in College_, p. 30.

S.T.P. _Sanctæ Theologiæ Professor_. Professor in Theology.

A degree of similar import to S.T.D., and D.D.

STUDENT. A person engaged in study; one who is devoted to learning, either in a seminary or in private; a scholar; as, the _students_ of an academy, of a college or university; a medical _student_; a law _student_.

2. A man devoted to books; a bookish man; as, a hard _student_; a close _student_.--_Webster_.

3. At Oxford, this word is used to designate one who stands upon the foundation of the college to which he belongs, and is an aspirant for academic emoluments.--_De Quincey_.

4. In German universities, by _student_ is understood "one who has by matriculation acquired the rights of academical citizenship."--_Howitt's Student Life of Germany_, Am. ed., p. 27.

STUDY. A building or an apartment devoted to study or to literary employment.--_Webster_.

In some of the older American colleges, it was formerly the custom to partition off, in each chamber, two small rooms, where the occupants, who were always two in number, could carry on their literary pursuits. These rooms were called, from this circumstance, _studies_. Speaking of the first college edifice which was erected at New Haven, Mr. Clap, in his History of Yale College, says: "It made a handsome appearance, and contained near fifty _studies_ in convenient chambers"; and again he speaks of Connecticut Hall as containing thirty-two chambers and sixty-four _studies_. In the oldest buildings, some of these _studies_ remain at the present day.

The _study_ rents, until December last, were discontinued with Mr. Dunster.--_Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ._, Vol. I. p. 463.

Every Graduate and Undergraduate shall find his proportion of furniture, &c., during the whole time of his having a _study_ assigned him.--_Laws Harv. Coll._, 1798, p. 35.

To him that occupies my _study_,
I give, &c.--_Will of Charles Prentiss_.

STUMP. At Princeton College, to fail in reciting; to say, "Not prepared," when called on to recite. A _stump_, a bad recitation; used in the phrase, "_to make a stump_."

SUB-FRESH. A person previous to entering the Freshman Class is called a _sub-fresh_, or one below a Freshman.

Praying his guardian powers
To assist a poor "_Sub-Fresh_" at the dread examination.
_Poem before the Iadma Soc. of Harv. Coll._, 1850, p. 14.

Our "_Sub-Fresh_" has that feeling.
_Ibid._, p. 16.

Everybody happy, except _Sub-Fresh_, and they trying hardest to appear so.--_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XX. p. 103.

The timid _Sub-Fresh_ had determined to construct stout barricades, with no lack of ammunition.--_Ibid._, p. 103.

Sometimes written _Sub_.

Information wanted of the "_Sub_" who didn't think it an honor to be electioneered.--_N.B., Yale Coll., June_ 14, 1851.

See PENE.

SUBJECT. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., a particular author, or part of an author, set for examination; or a particular branch of Mathematics, such as Optics, Hydrostatics, &c.--_Bristed_.

To _get up a subject_, is to make one's self thoroughly master of it.--_Bristed_.

SUB-RECTOR. A rector's deputy or substitute.--_Walton, Webster_.

SUB-SIZAR. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., formerly an order of students lower than the _sizars_.

Masters of all sorts, and all ages,
Keepers, _subcizers_, lackeys, pages.
_Poems of Bp. Corbet_, p. 22.

There he sits and sees
How lackeys and _subsizers_ press
And scramble for degrees.
_Ibid._, p. 88.

See under SIZAR.

SUCK. At Middlebury College, to cheat at recitation or examination by using _ponies_, _interliners_, or _helps_ of any kind.

SUPPLICAT. Latin; literally, _he supplicates_. In the English universities, a petition; particularly a written application with a certificate that the requisite conditions have been complied with.--_Webster_.

A _Supplicat_, says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, is "an entreaty to be admitted to the degree of B.A.; containing a certificate that the Questionist has kept his full number of terms, or explaining any deficiency. This document is presented to the caput by the father of his college."

SURPLICE DAY. An occasion or day on which the surplice is worn by the members of a university.

"On all Sundays and Saint-days, and the evenings preceding, every member of the University, except noblemen, attends chapel in his surplice."--_Grad. ad Cantab._, pp. 106, 107.

SUSPEND. In colleges, to separate a student from his class, and place him under private instruction.

And those whose crimes are very great,
Let us _suspend_ or rusticate.--_Rebelliad_, p. 24.

SUSPENSION. In universities and colleges, the punishment of a student for some offence, usually negligence, by separating him from his class, and compelling him to pursue those branches of study in which he is deficient under private instruction, provided for the purpose.

SUSPENSION-PAPER. The paper in which the act of suspension from college is declared.

Come, take these three _suspension-papers_;
They'll teach you how to cut such capers.
_Rebelliad_, p. 32.

SUSPENSION TO THE ROOM. In Princeton College, one of the punishments for certain offences subjects a student to confinement to his chamber and exclusion from his class, and requires him to recite to a teacher privately for a certain time. This is technically called _suspension to the room_.

SWEEP, SWEEPER. The name given at Yale and other colleges to the person whose occupation it is to sweep the students' rooms, make their beds, &c.

Then how welcome the entrance of the _sweep_, and how cutely we fling jokes at each other through the dust!--_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XIV. p. 223.

Knocking down the _sweep_, in clearing the stairs, we described a circle to our room.--_The Yale Banger_, Nov. 10, 1846.

A Freshman by the faithful _sweep_
Was found half buried in soft sleep.
_Ibid._, Nov. 10, 1846.

With fingers dirty and black,
From lower to upper room,
A College _Sweep_ went dustily round,
Plying his yellow broom.
_Songs of Yale_, 1853, p. 12.

In the Yale Literary Magazine, Vol. III. p. 144, is "A tribute to certain Members of the Faculty, whose names are omitted in the Catalogue," in which appropriate praise is awarded to these useful servants.

The Steward ... engages _sweepers_ for the College.--_Laws Harv. Coll._, 1816, p. 48.

One of the _sweepers_ finding a parcel of wood,... the defendant, in the absence of the owner of the wood, authorizes the _sweeper_ to carry it away.--_Scenes and Characters in College_, p. 98.

SWELL BLOCK. In the University of Virginia, a sobriquet applied to dandies and vain pretenders.

SWING. At several American colleges, the word _swing_ is used for coming out with a secret society badge; 1st, of the society, to _swing out_ the new men; and, 2d, of the men, intransitively, to _swing_, or to _swing out_, i.e. to appear with the badge of a secret society. Generally, _to swing out_ signifies to appear in something new.

The new members have "_swung out_," and all again is harmony.--_Sophomore Independent_, Union College, Nov. 1854.

SYNDIC. Latin, _syndicus_; Greek, [Greek: sundikos; sun], _with_, and [Greek: dikae], _justice_.

An officer of government, invested with different powers in different countries. Almost all the companies in Paris, the University, &c., have their _syndics_. The University of Cambridge has its _syndics_, who are chosen from the Senate to transact special business, as the regulation of fees, forming of laws, inspecting the library, buildings, printing, &c.--_Webster. Cam. Cal._

SYNDICATE. A council or body of syndics.

The state of instruction in and encouragement to the study of Theology were thus set forth in the report of a _syndicate_ appointed to consider the subject in 1842.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 293.

_T_.

TADS. At Centre College, Ky., there is "a society," says a correspondent, "composed of the very best fellows of the College, calling themselves _Tads_, who are generally associated together, for the object of electing, by the additional votes of their members, any of their friends who are brought forward as candidates for any honor or appointment in the literary societies to which they belong."

TAKE UP. To call on a student to rehearse a lesson.

Professor _took_ him _up_ on Greek;
He tried to talk, but couldn't speak.
_MS Poem_.

TAKE UP ONE'S CONNECTIONS. In students' phrase, to leave college. Used in American institutions.

TARDES. At the older American colleges, when charges were made and excuses rendered in Latin, the student who had come late to any religious service was addressed by the proper officer with the word _Tardes_, a kind of barbarous second person singular of some unknown verb, signifying, probably, "You are or were late."

Much absence, _tardes_ and egresses,
The college-evil on him seizes.
_Trumbull's Progress of Dullness_, Part I.

TARDY. In colleges, late in attendance on a public exercise.--_Webster_.

TAVERN. At Harvard College, the rooms No. 24 Massachusetts Hall, and No. 8 Hollis Hall, were occupied from the year 1789 to 1793 by Mr. Charles Angier. His table was always supplied with wine, brandy, crackers, etc., of which his friends were at liberty to partake at any time. From this circumstance his rooms were called _the Tavern_ for nearly twenty years after his graduation.

In connection with this incident, it may not be uninteresting to state, that the cellars of the two buildings above mentioned were divided each into thirty-two compartments, corresponding with the number of rooms. In these the students and tutors stored their liquors, sometimes in no inconsiderable quantities. Frequent entries are met with in the records of the Faculty, in which the students are charged with pilfering wine, brandy, or eatables from the tutors' _bins_.

TAXOR. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., an officer appointed to regulate the assize of bread, the true gauge of weights, etc.--_Cam. Cal._

TEAM. In the English universities, the pupils of a private tutor or COACH.--_Bristed_.

No man who has not taken a good degree expects or pretends to take good men into his _team_.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 69.

It frequently, indeed usually happens, that a "coach" of reputation declines taking men into his _team_ before they have made time in public.--_Ibid._, p. 85.

TEAR. At Princeton College, a _perfect tear_ is a very extra recitation, superior to a _rowl_.

TEMPLE. At Bowdoin College, a privy is thus designated.

TEN-STRIKE. At Hamilton College, a perfect recitation, ten being the mark given for a perfect recitation.

TEN-YEAR MEN. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., these are allowed to take the degree of Bachelor in Divinity without having been B.A. or M.A., by the statute of 9th Queen Elizabeth, which permits persons, who are admitted at any college when twenty-four years of age and upwards, to take the degree of B.D. after their names have remained on the _boards_ ten years or more. After the first eight years, they must reside in the University the greater part of three several terms, and perform the exercises which are required by the statutes.--_Cam. Cal._

TERM. In universities and colleges, the time during which instruction is regularly given to students, who are obliged by the statutes and laws of the institution to attend to the recitations, lectures, and other exercises.--_Webster_.

In the University of Cambridge, Eng., there are three terms during each year, which are fixed by invariable rules. October or Michaelmas term begins on the 10th of October, and ends on the 16th of December. Lent or January term begins on the 13th of January, and ends on the Friday before Palm Sunday. Easter or Midsummer term, begins on the eleventh day (the Wednesday sennight) after Easter-day, and ends on the Friday after Commencement day. Commencement is always on the first Tuesday in July.

At Oxford University, there are four terms in the year. Michaelmas term begins on the 10th of October, and ends on the 17th of December. Hilary term begins on the 14th of January, and ends the day before Palm Sunday. But if the Saturday before Palm Sunday should be a festival, the term does not end till the Monday following. Easter term begins on the tenth day after Easter Sunday, and ends on the day before Whitsunday. Trinity term begins on the Wednesday after Whitsunday, and ends the Saturday after the Act, which is always on the first Tuesday in July.

At the Dublin University, the terms in each year are four in number. Hilary term begins on the Monday after Epiphany, and ends the day before Palm Sunday. Easter term begins on the eighth day after Easter Sunday, and ends on Whitsun-eve. Trinity term begins on Trinity Monday, and ends on the 8th of July. Michaelmas term begins on the 1st of October (or on the 2d, if the 1st should be Sunday), and ends on December 16th.

TERRÆ FILIUS. Latin; _son of earth_.

Formerly, one appointed to write a satirical Latin poem at the public Acts in the University of Oxford; not unlike the prevaricator at Cambridge, Eng.--_Webster_.

Full accounts of the compositions written on these occasions may be found in a work in two volumes, entitled "Terræ-Filius; or the Secret History of the University of Oxford," printed in the year 1726.

See TRIPOS PAPER.

TESTAMUR. Latin; literally, _we testify_. In the English universities, a certificate of proficiency, without which a person is not able to take his degree. So called from the first word in the formula.

There is not one out of twenty of my pupils who can look forward with unmixed pleasure to a _testamur_.--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 254.

Every _testamur_ must be signed by three out of the four examiners, at least.--_Ibid._, p. 282.

THEATRE. At Oxford, a building in which are held the annual commemoration of benefactors, the recitation of prize compositions, and the occasional ceremony of conferring degrees on distinguished personages.--_Oxford Guide_.

THEME. In college phrase, a short dissertation composed by a student.

It is the practice at Cambridge [Mass.] for the Professor of Rhetoric and the English Language, commencing in the first or second quarter of the student's Sophomore year, to give the class a text; generally some brief moral quotation from some of the ancient or modern poets, from which the students write a short essay, usually denominated a _theme_.--_Works of R.T. Paine_, p. xxi.

Far be it from me to enter into competition with students who have been practising the sublime art of _theme_ and forensic writing for two years.--_Harvardiana_, Vol. III. p. 316.

But on the sleepy day of _themes_,
May doze away a dozen reams.
_Ibid._, p. 283.

Nimrod holds his "first _theme_" in one hand, and is leaning his head on the other.--_Ibid._, p. 253.

THEME-BEARER. At Harvard College, until within a few years, a student was chosen once in a term by his classmates to perform the duties of _theme-bearer_. He received the subjects for themes and forensics from the Professors of Rhetoric and of Moral Philosophy, and posted them up in convenient places, usually in the entries of the buildings and on, the bulletin-boards. He also distributed the corrected themes, at first giving them to the students after evening prayers, and, when this had been forbidden by the President, carrying them to their rooms. For these services he received seventy-five cents per term from each member of the class.

THEME-PAPER. In American colleges, a kind of paper on which students write their themes or composition. It is of the size of an ordinary letter-sheet, contains eighteen or nineteen lines placed at wide intervals, and is ruled in red ink with a margin a little less than an inch in width.

Shoe-strings, lucifers, omnibus-tickets, _theme-paper_, postage-stamps, and the nutriment of pipes.--_Harv. Mag._, Vol. I. p. 266.

THEOLOGUE. A cant name among collegians for a student in theology.

The hardened hearts of Freshmen and _Theologues_ burned with righteous indignation.--_Yale Tomahawk_, May, 1852.

The _Theologs_ are not so wicked as the Medics.--_Burlesque Catalogue, Yale Coll._, 1852-53, p. 30.

THESES-COLLECTOR. One who collects or prepares _theses_. The following extract from the laws of Harvard College will explain further what is meant by this term. "The President, Professors, and Tutors, annually, some time in the third term, shall select from the Junior Class a number of _Theses-Collectors_, to prepare theses for the next year; from which selection they shall appoint so many divisions as shall be equal to the number of branches they may assign. And each one shall, in the particular branch assigned him, collect so many theses as the government may judge expedient; and all the theses, thus collected, shall be delivered to the President, by the Saturday immediately succeeding the end of the Spring vacation in the Senior year, at furthest, from which the President, Professors, and Tutors shall select such as they shall judge proper to be published. But if the theses delivered to the President, in any particular branch, should not afford a sufficient number suitable for publication, a further number shall be required. The name of the student who collected any set or number of theses shall be annexed to the theses collected by him, in every publication. Should any one neglect to collect the theses required of him, he shall be liable to lose his degree."--1814, p. 35.

The Theses-Collectors were formerly chosen by the class, as the following extract from a MS. Journal will show.

"March 27th, 1792. My Class assembled in the chapel to choose theses-collectors, a valedictory orator, and poet. Jackson was chosen to deliver the Latin oration, and Cutler to deliver the poem. Ellis was almost unanimously chosen a collector of the grammatical theses. Prince was chosen metaphysical theses-collector, with considerable opposition. Lowell was chosen mathematical theses-collector, though not unanimously. Chamberlain was chosen physical theses-collector."

THESIS. A position or proposition which a person advances and offers to maintain, or which is actually maintained by argument; a theme; a subject; particularly, a subject or proposition for a school or university exercise, or the exercise itself.--_Webster_.

In the older American colleges, the _theses_ held a prominent place in the exercises of Commencement. At Harvard College the earliest theses extant bear the date of the year 1687. They were Theses Technological, Logical, Grammatical, Rhetorical, Mathematical, and Physical. The last theses were presented in the year 1820. The earliest theses extant belonging to Yale College are of 1714, and the last were printed in 1797.

THIRDING. In England, "a custom practised at the universities, where two _thirds_ of the original price is allowed by upholsterers to the students for household goods returned them within the year."--_Grose's Dict._

On this subject De Quincey says: "The Oxford rule is, that, if you take the rooms (which is at your own option), in that case you _third_ the furniture and the embellishments; i.e. you succeed to the total cost diminished by one third. You pay, therefore, two guineas out of each three to your _immediate_ predecessor."--_Life and Manners_, p. 250.

THIRD-YEAR MEN. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., the title of Third-Year Men, or Senior Sophs or Sophisters, is given to students during the third year of their residence at the University.

THUNDERING BOLUS. See INTONITANS BOLUS.

TICK. A recitation made by one who does not know of what he is talking.

_Ticks_, screws, and deads were all put under contribution.--_A Tour through College_, Boston, 1832, p. 25.

TICKER. One who recites without knowing what he is talking about; one entirely independent of any book-knowledge.

If any "_Ticker_" dare to look
A stealthy moment on his book.
_Harvardiana_, Vol. III. p. 123.

TICKING. The act of reciting without knowing anything about the lesson.

And what with _ticking_, screwing, and deading, am candidate for a piece of parchment to-morrow.--_Harv. Reg._, p. 194.

TIGHT. A common slang term among students; the comparative, of which _drunk_ is the superlative.

Some twenty of as jolly chaps as e'er got jolly _tight_.
_Poem before Y.H._, 1849.

Hast spent the livelong night
In smoking Esculapios,--in getting jolly _tight_?
_Poem before Iadma_, 1850.

He clenched his fist as fain for fight,
Sank back, and gently murmured "_tight_."
_MS. Poem_, W.F. Allen, 1848.

While fathers, are bursting with rage and spite,
And old ladies vow that the students are _tight_.
_Yale Gallinipper_, Nov. 1848.

Speaking of the word "drunk," the Burlington Sentinel remarks: "The last synonyme that we have observed is '_tight_,' a term, it strikes us, rather inappropriate, since a 'tight' man, in the cant use of the word, is almost always a 'loose character.' We give a list of a few of the various words and phrases which have been in use, at one time or another, to signify some stage of inebriation: Over the bay, half seas over, hot, high, corned, cut, cocked, shaved, disguised, jammed, damaged, sleepy, tired, discouraged, snuffy, whipped, how come ye so, breezy, smoked, top-heavy, fuddled, groggy, tipsy, smashed, swipy, slewed, cronk, salted down, how fare ye, on the lee lurch, all sails set, three sheets in the wind, well under way, battered, blowing, snubbed, sawed, boosy, bruised, screwed, soaked, comfortable, stimulated, jug-steamed, tangle-legged, fogmatic, blue-eyed, a passenger in the Cape Ann stage, striped, faint, shot in the neck, bamboozled, weak-jointed, got a brick in his hat, got a turkey on his back."