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But oh! and alas! I was _gobbled_ returning.
_Yale Banger_, Nov. 1850.
Upon that night, in the broad street, was I by one of the
brain-deficient men _gobbled_.--_Yale Battery_, Feb. 1850.
Then shout for the hero who _gobbles_ the prize.
_Songs of Yale_, 1853, p. 39.
At Cambridge, Eng., this word is used in the phrase _gobbling
Greek_, i.e. studying or speaking that tongue.
Ambitious to "_gobble_" his Greek in the _haute monde_.--_Alma
Mater_, Vol. I. p. 79.
It was now ten o'clock, and up stairs we therefore flew to
_gobble_ Greek with Professor ----.--_Ibid._, Vol. I. p. 127.
You may have seen him, traversing the grass-plots, "_gobbling
Greek_" to himself.--_Ibid._, Vol. I. p. 210.
GOLGOTHA. _The place of a skull_. At Cambridge, Eng., in the
University Church, "a particular part," says the Westminster
Review, "is appropriated to the _heads_ of the houses, and is
called _Golgotha_ therefrom, a name which the appearance of its
occupants renders peculiarly fitting, independent of the
pun."--Am. ed., Vol. XXXV. p. 236.
GONUS. A stupid fellow.
He was a _gonus_; perhaps, though, you don't know what _gonus_
means. One day I heard a Senior call a fellow a _gonus_. "A what?"
said I. "A great gonus," repeated he. "_Gonus_," echoed I, "what's
that mean?" "O," said he, "you're a Freshman and don't
understand." A stupid fellow, a dolt, a boot-jack, an ignoramus,
is called here a _gonus_. "All Freshmen," continued he gravely,
"are _gonuses_."--_The Dartmouth_, Vol. IV. p. 116.
If the disquisitionist should ever reform his habits, and turn his
really brilliant talents to some good account, then future
_gonuses_ will swear by his name, and quote him in their daily
maledictions of the appointment system.--_Amherst Indicator_, Vol.
I. p. 76.
The word _goney_, with the same meaning, is often used.
"How the _goney_ swallowed it all, didn't he?" said Mr. Slick,
with great glee.--_Slick in England_, Chap. XXI.
Some on 'em were fools enough to believe the _goney_; that's a
fact.--_Ibid._
GOOD FELLOW. At the University of Vermont, this term is used with
a signification directly opposite to that which it usually has. It
there designates a soft-brained boy; one who is lacking in
intellect, or, as a correspondent observes, "an _epithetical_
fool."
GOODY. At Harvard College, a woman who has the care of the
students' rooms. The word seems to be an abbreviated form of the
word _goodwife_. It has long been in use, as a low term of
civility or sport, and in some cases with the signification of a
good old dame; but in the sense above given it is believed to be
peculiar to Harvard College. In early times, _sweeper_ was in use
instead of _goody_, and even now at Yale College the word _sweep_
is retained. The words _bed-maker_ at Cambridge, Eng., and _gyp_
at Oxford, express the same idea.
The Rebelliad, an epic poem, opens with an invocation to the
Goody, as follows.
Old _Goody_ Muse! on thee I call,
_Pro more_, (as do poets all,)
To string thy fiddle, wax thy bow,
And scrape a ditty, jig, or so.
Now don't wax wrathy, but excuse
My calling you old _Goody_ Muse;
Because "_Old Goody_" is a name
Applied to every college dame.
Aloft in pendent dignity,
Astride her magic broom,
And wrapt in dazzling majesty,
See! see! the _Goody_ come!--p. 11.
Go on, dear _Goody_! and recite
The direful mishaps of the fight.--_Ibid._, p. 20.
The _Goodies_ hearing, cease to sweep,
And listen; while the cook-maids weep.--_Ibid._, p. 47.
The _Goody_ entered with her broom,
To make his bed and sweep his room.--_Ibid._, p. 73.
On opening the papers left to his care, he found a request that
his effects might be bestowed on his friend, the _Goody_, who had
been so attentive to him during his declining hours.--_Harvard
Register_, 1827-28, p. 86.
I was interrupted by a low knock at my door, followed by the
entrance of our old _Goody_, with a bundle of musty papers in her
hand, tied round with a soiled red ribbon.--_Collegian_, 1830, p.
231.
Were there any _Goodies_ when you were in college, father? Perhaps
you did not call them by that name. They are nice old ladies (not
so _very_ nice, either), who come in every morning, after we have
been to prayers, and sweep the rooms, and make the beds, and do
all that sort of work. However, they don't much like their title,
I find; for I called one, the other day, _Mrs. Goodie_, thinking
it was her real name, and she was as sulky as she could
be.--_Harvardiana_, Vol. III. p. 76.
Yet these half-emptied bottles shall I take,
And, having purged them of this wicked stuff,
Make a small present unto _Goody_ Bush.
_Ibid._, Vol. III. p. 257.
Reader! wert ever beset by a dun? ducked by the _Goody_ from thine
own window, when "creeping like snail unwillingly" to morning
prayers?--_Ibid._, Vol. IV. p. 274.
The crowd delighted
Saw them, like _Goodies_, clothed in gowns of satin,
Of silk or cotton.--_Childe Harvard_, p. 26, 1848.
On the wall hangs a Horse-shoe I found in the street;
'T is the shoe that to-day sets in motion my feet;
Though its charms are all vanished this many a year,
And not even my _Goody_ regards it with fear.
_The Horse-Shoe, a Poem, by J.B. Felton_, 1849, p. 4.
A very clever elegy on the death of Goody Morse, who
"For forty years or more
... contrived the while
No little dust to raise"
in the rooms of the students of Harvard College, is to be found in
Harvardiana, Vol. I. p. 233. It was written by Mr. (afterwards
Rev.) Benjamin Davis Winslow. In the poem which he read before his
class in the University Chapel at Cambridge, July 14, 1835, he
referred to her in these lines:
"'New brooms sweep clean': 't was thine, dear _Goody_ Morse,
To prove the musty proverb hath no force,
Since fifty years to vanished centuries crept,
While thy old broom our cloisters duly swept.
All changed but thee! beneath thine aged eye
Whole generations came and flitted by,
Yet saw thee still in office;--e'en reform
Spared thee the pelting of its angry storm.
Rest to thy bones in yonder church-yard laid,
Where thy last bed the village sexton made!"--p. 19.
GORM. From _gormandize_. At Hamilton College, to eat voraciously.
GOT. In Princeton College, when a student or any one else has been
cheated or taken in, it is customary to say, he was _got_.
GOVERNMENT. In American colleges, the general government is
usually vested in a corporation or a board of trustees, whose
powers, rights, and duties are established by the respective
charters of the colleges over which they are placed. The immediate
government of the undergraduates is in the hands of the president,
professors, and tutors, who are styled _the Government_, or _the
College Government_, and more frequently _the Faculty_, or _the
College Faculty_.--_Laws of Univ. at Cam., Mass._, 1848, pp. 7, 8.
_Laws of Yale Coll._, 1837, p. 5.
For many years he was the most conspicuous figure among those who
constituted what was formerly called "the
_Government_."--_Memorial of John S. Popkin, D.D._, p. vii.
[Greek: Kudiste], mighty President!!!
[Greek: Kalomen nun] the _Government_.--_Rebelliad_, p. 27.
Did I not jaw the _Government_,
For cheating more than ten per cent?--_Ibid._, p. 32.
They shall receive due punishment
From Harvard College _Government_.--_Ibid._, p. 44.
The annexed production, printed from a MS. in the author's
handwriting, and in the possession of the editor of this work, is
now, it is believed, for the first time presented to the public.
The time is 1787; the scene, Harvard College. The poem was
"written by John Q. Adams, son of the President, when an
undergraduate."
"A DESCRIPTION OF A GOVERNMENT MEETING.
"The Government of College met,
And _Willard_[31] rul'd the stern debate.
The witty _Jennison_[32] declar'd
As how, he'd been completely scar'd;
Last night, quoth he, as I came home,
I heard a noise in _Prescott's_[33] room.
I went and listen'd at the door,
As I had often done before;
I found the Juniors in a high rant,
They call'd the President a tyrant;
And said as how I was a fool,
A long ear'd ass, a sottish mule,
Without the smallest grain of spunk;
So I concluded they were drunk.
At length I knock'd, and Prescott came:
I told him 't was a burning shame,
That he should give his classmates wine;
And he should pay a heavy fine.
Meanwhile the rest grew so outragious,
Altho' I boast of being couragious,
I could not help being in a fright,
For one of them put out the light.
I thought 't was best to come away,
And wait for vengeance 'till this day;
And he's a fool at any rate
Who'll fight, when he can RUSTICATE.
When they [had] found that I was gone,
They ran through College up and down;
And I could hear them very plain
Take the Lord's holy name in vain.
To Wier's[34] chamber they then repair'd,
And there the wine they freely shar'd;
They drank and sung till they were tir'd.
And then they peacefully retir'd.
When this Homeric speech was said,
With drolling tongue and hanging head,
The learned Doctor took his seat,
Thinking he'd done a noble feat.
Quoth Joe,[35] the crime is great I own,
Send for the Juniors one by one.
By this almighty wig I swear,
Which with such majesty I wear,
Which in its orbit vast contains
My dignity, my power and brains,
That Wier and Prescott both shall see,
That College boys must not be free.
He spake, and gave the awful nod
Like Homer's Didonean God,
The College from its centre shook,
And every pipe and wine-glass broke.
"_Williams_,[36] with countenance humane,
While scarce from laughter could refrain,
Thought that such youthful scenes of mirth
To punishment could not give birth;
Nor could he easily divine
What was the harm of drinking wine.
"But _Pearson_,[37] with an awful frown,
Full of his article and noun,
Spake thus: by all the parts of speech
Which I so elegantly teach,
By mercy I will never stain
The character which I sustain.
Pray tell me why the laws were made,
If they're not to be obey'd;
Besides, _that Wier_ I can't endure,
For he's a wicked rake, I'm sure.
But whether I am right or not,
I'll not recede a single jot.
"_James_[38] saw 'twould be in vain t' oppose,
And therefore to be silent chose.
"_Burr_,[39] who had little wit or pride,
Preferr'd to take the strongest side.
And Willard soon receiv'd commission
To give a publick admonition.
With pedant strut to prayers he came,
Call'd out the criminals by name;
Obedient to his dire command,
Prescott and Wier before him stand.
The rulers merciful and kind,
With equal grief and wonder find,
That you do drink, and play, and sing,
And make with noise the College ring.
I therefore warn you to beware
Of drinking more than you can bear.
Wine an incentive is to riot,
Disturbance of the publick quiet.
Full well your Tutors know the truth,
For sad experience taught their youth.
Take then this friendly exhortation;
The next offence is RUSTICATION."
GOWN. A long, loose upper garment or robe, worn by professional
men, as divines, lawyers, students, &c., who are called _men of
the gown_, or _gownmen_. It is made of any kind of cloth, worn
over ordinary clothes, and hangs down to the ankles, or nearly so.
--_Encyc._
From a letter written in the year 1766, by Mr. Holyoke, then
President of Harvard College, it would appear that gowns were
first worn by the members of that institution about the year 1760.
The gown, although worn by the students in the English
universities, is now seldom worn in American colleges except on
Commencement, Exhibition, or other days of a similar public
character.
The students are permitted to wear black _gowns_, in which they
may appear on all public occasions.--_Laws Harv. Coll._, 1798, p.
37.
Every candidate for a first degree shall wear a black dress and
the usual black _gown_.--_Laws Univ. at Cam., Mass._, 1848, p. 20.
The performers all wore black _gowns_ with sleeves large enough to
hold me in, and shouted and swung their arms, till they looked
like so many Methodist ministers just ordained.--_Harvardiana_,
Vol. III. p. 111.
Saw them ... clothed in _gowns_ of satin,
Or silk or cotton, black as souls benighted.--
All, save the _gowns_, was startling, splendid, tragic,
But gowns on men have lost their wonted magic.
_Childe Harvard_, p. 26.
The door swings open--and--he comes! behold him
Wrapt in his mantling _gown_, that round him flows
Waving, as Cęsar's toga did enfold him.--_Ibid._, p. 36.
On Saturday evenings, Sundays, and Saints' days, the students wear
surplices instead of their _gowns_, and very innocent and
exemplary they look in them.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng.
Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 21.
2. One who wears a gown.
And here, I think, I may properly introduce a very singular
gallant, a sort of mongrel between town and _gown_,--I mean a
bibliopola, or (as the vulgar have it) a bookseller.--_The
Student_, Oxf. and Cam., Vol. II. p. 226.
GOWNMAN, GOWNSMAN. One whose professional habit is a gown, as a
divine or lawyer, and particularly a member of an English
university.--_Webster_.
The _gownman_ learned.--_Pope_.
Oft has some fair inquirer bid me say,
What tasks, what sports beguile the _gownsman's_ day.
_The College_, in _Blackwood's Mag._, May, 1849.
For if townsmen by our influence are so enlightened, what must we
_gownsmen_ be ourselves?--_The Student_, Oxf. and Cam., Vol. I. p.
56.
Nor must it be supposed that the _gownsmen_ are thin, study-worn,
consumptive-looking individuals.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng.
Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 5.
See CAP.
GRACE. In English universities, an act, vote, or decree of the
government of the institution.--_Webster_.
"All _Graces_ (as the legislative measures proposed by the Senate
are termed) have to be submitted first to the Caput, each member
of which has an absolute veto on the grace. If it passes the
Caput, it is then publicly recited in both houses, [the regent and
non-regent,] and at a subsequent meeting voted on, first in the
Non-Regent House, and then in the other. If it passes both, it
becomes valid."--_Literary World_, Vol. XII. p. 283.
See CAPUT SENATUS.
GRADUATE. To honor with a degree or diploma, in a college or
university; to confer a degree on; as, to _graduate_ a master of
arts.--_Wotton_.
_Graduated_ a doctor, and dubb'd a knight.--_Carew_.
Pickering, in his Vocabulary, says of the word _graduate_:
"Johnson has it as a verb active only. But an English friend
observes, that 'the active sense of this word is rare in England.'
I have met with one instance in an English publication where it is
used in a dialogue, in the following manner: 'You, methinks, _are
graduated_.' See a review in the British Critic, Vol. XXXIV. p.
538."
In Mr. Todd's edition of Johnson's Dictionary, this word is given
as a verb intransitive also: "To take an academical degree; to
become a graduate; as he _graduated_ at Oxford."
In America, the use of the phrase _he was graduated_, instead of
_he graduated_, which has been of late so common, "is merely,"
says Mr. Bartlett in his Dictionary of Americanisms, "a return to
former practice, the verb being originally active transitive."
He _was graduated_ with the esteem of the government, and the
regard of his contemporaries--_Works of R.T. Paine_, p. xxix. The
latter, who _was graduated_ thirteen years after.--_Peirce's Hist.
Harv. Univ._, p. 219.
In this perplexity the President had resolved "to yield to the
torrent, and _graduate_ Hartshorn."--_Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ._,
Vol. I. p. 398. (The quotation was written in 1737.)
In May, 1749, three gentlemen who had sons about _to be
graduated_.--_Ibid._, Vol. II. p. 92.
Mr. Peirce was born in September, 1778; and, after _being
graduated_ at Harvard College, with the highest honors of his
class.--_Ibid._, Vol. II. p. 390, and Chap. XXXVII. _passim_.
He _was graduated_ in 1789 with distinguished honors, at the age
of nineteen.--_Mr. Young's Discourse on the Life of President
Kirkland_.
His class when _graduated_, in 1785, consisted of thirty-two
persons.--_Dr. Palfrey's Discourse on the Life and Character of
Dr. Ware_.
2. _Intransitively_. To receive a degree from a college or
university.
He _graduated_ at Leyden in 1691.--_London Monthly Mag._, Oct.
1808, p. 224.
Wherever Magnol _graduated_.--_Rees's Cyclopędia_, Art. MAGNOL.
GRADUATE. One who has received a degree in a college or
university, or from some professional incorporated
society.--_Webster_.
GRADUATE IN A SCHOOL. A degree given, in the University of
Virginia, to those who have been through a course of study less
than is required for the degree of B.A.
GRADUATION. The act of conferring or receiving academical degrees.
--_Charter of Dartmouth College_.
After his _graduation_ at Yale College, in 1744, he continued his
studies at Harvard University, where he took his second degree in
1747.--_Hist. Sketch of Columbia Coll._, p. 122.
Bachelors were called Senior, Middle, or Junior Bachelors
according to the year since _graduation_, and before taking the
degree of Master.--_Woolsey's Hist. Disc._, p. 122.
GRAND COMPOUNDER. At the English Universities, one who pays double
fees for his degree.
"Candidates for all degrees, who possess certain property," says
the Oxford University Calendar, "must go out, as it is termed,
_Grand Compounders_. The property required for this purpose may
arise from two distinct sources; either from some ecclesiastical
benefice or benefices, or else from some other revenue, civil or
ecclesiastical. The ratio of computation in the first case is
expressly limited by statute to the value of the benefice or
benefices, as _rated in the King's books_, without regard to the
actual estimation at the present period; and the amount of that
value must not be _less than forty pounds_. In the second
instance, which includes all other cases, comprising
ecclesiastical as well as civil income, (academical income alone
excepted,) property to the extent of _three hundred pounds_ a year
is required; nor is any difference made between property in land
and property in money, so that a _legal_ revenue to this extent of
any description, not arising from a benefice or benefices, and not
being strictly academical, renders the qualification
complete."--Ed. 1832, p. 92.
At Oxford "a '_grand compounder_' is one who has income to the
amount of $1,500, and is made to pay $150 for his degree, while
the ordinary fee is $42." _Lit. World_, Vol. XII. p. 247.
GRAND TRIBUNAL. The Grand Tribunal is an institution peculiar to
Trinity College, Hartford. A correspondent describes it as
follows. "The Grand Tribunal is a mock court composed of the
Senior and Junior Classes, and has for its special object the
regulation and discipline of Sophomores. The first officer of the
Tribunal is the 'Grand High Chancellor,' who presides at all
business meetings. The Tribunal has its judges, advocates,
sheriff, and his aids. According to the laws of the Tribunal, no
Sophomore can be tried who has three votes in his favor. This
regulation makes a trial a difficult matter; there is rarely more
than one trial a year, and sometimes two years elapse without
there being a session of the court. When a selection of an
offending and unlucky Soph has been made, he is arrested some time
during the day of the evening on which his trial takes place. The
court provides him with one advocate, while he has the privilege
of choosing another. These trials are often the scenes of
considerable wit and eloquence. One of the most famous of them was
held in 1853. When the Tribunal is in session, it is customary for
the Faculty of the College to act as its police, by preserving
order amongst the Sophs, who generally assemble at the door, to
disturb, if possible, the proceedings of the Court."
GRANTA. The name by which the University of Cambridge, Eng., was
formerly known. At present it is sometimes designated by this
title in poetry, and in addresses written in other tongues than
the vernacular.
Warm with fond hope, and Learning's sacred flame,
To _Granta's_ bowers the youthful Poet came.
_Lines in Memory of H.K. White, by Prof. William Smyth_, in
_Cam. Guide_.
GRATULATORY. Expressing gratulation; congratulatory.
At Harvard College, while Wadsworth was President, in the early
part of the last century, it was customary to close the exercises
of Commencement day with a _gratulatory oration_, pronounced by
one of the candidates for a degree. This has now given place to
what is generally called the _valedictory oration_.
GRAVEL DAY. The following account of this day is given in a work
entitled Sketches of Williams College. "On the second Monday of
the first term in the year, if the weather be at all favorable, it
has been customary from time immemorial to hold a college meeting,
and petition the President for '_Gravel day_.' We did so this
morning. The day was granted, and, recitations being dispensed
with, the students turned out _en masse_ to re-gravel the college
walks. The gravel which we obtain here is of such a nature that it
packs down very closely, and renders the walks as hard and smooth
as a pavement. The Faculty grant this day for the purpose of
fostering in the students the habit of physical labor and
exercise, so essential to vigorous mental exertion."--1847, pp.
78, 79.
The improved method of observing this day is noted in the annexed
extract. "Nearly every college has its own peculiar customs, which
have been transmitted from far antiquity; but Williams has perhaps
less than any other. Among ours are '_gravel day_,' 'chip day,'
and 'mountain day,' occurring one in each of the three terms. The
first usually comes in the early part of the Fall term. In old
times, when the students were few, and rather fonder of _work_
than at the present, they turned out with spades, hoes, and other
implements, and spread gravel over the walks, to the College
grounds; but in later days, they have preferred to tax themselves
to a small amount and delegate the work to others, while they
spend the day in visiting the Cascade, the Natural Bridge, or
others of the numerous places of interest near us."--_Boston Daily
Evening Traveller_, July 12, 1854.
GREAT GO. In the English universities the final and most important
examination is called the _great go_, in contradistinction to the
_little go_, an examination about the middle of the course.
In my way back I stepped into the _Great Go_ schools.--_The
Etonian_, Vol. II. p. 287.
Read through the whole five volumes folio, Latin, previous to
going up for his _Great Go_.--_Ibid._, Vol. II. p. 381.
GREEN. Inexperienced, unsophisticated, verdant. Among collegians
this term is the favorite appellation for Freshmen.
When a man is called _verdant_ or _green_, it means that he is
unsophisticated and raw. For instance, when a man rushes to chapel
in the morning at the ringing of the first bell, it is called
_green_. At least, we were, for it. This greenness, we would
remark, is not, like the verdure in the vision of the poet,
necessarily perennial.--_Williams Monthly Miscellany_, 1845, Vol.
I. p. 463.
GRIND. An exaction; an oppressive action. Students speak of a very
long lesson which they are required to learn, or of any thing
which it is very unpleasant or difficult to perform, as a _grind_.
This meaning is derived from the verb _to grind_, in the sense of
to harass, to afflict; as, to _grind_ the faces of the poor
(Isaiah iii. 15).
I must say 't is a _grind_, though
--(perchance I spoke too loud).
_Poem before Iadma_, 1850, p. 12.
GRINDING. Hard study; diligent application.
The successful candidate enjoys especial and excessive _grinding_
during the four years of his college course. _Burlesque Catalogue,
Yale Coll._, 1852-53, p. 28.
GROATS. At the English universities, "nine _groats_" says Grose,
in his Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, "are deposited in the
hands of an academic officer by every person standing for a
degree, which, if the depositor obtains with honor, are returned
to him."
_To save his groats_; to come off handsomely.--_Gradus ad Cantab._
GROUP. A crowd or throng; a number collected without any regular
form or arrangement. At Harvard College, students are not allowed
to assemble in _groups_, as is seen by the following extract from
the laws. Three persons together are considered as a _group_.
Collecting in _groups_ round the doors of the College buildings,
or in the yard, shall be considered a violation of decorum.--_Laws
Univ. at Cam., Mass._, 1848, Suppl., p. 4.
GROUPING. Collecting together.
It will surely be incomprehensible to most students how so large a
number as six could be suffered with impunity to horde themselves
together within the limits of the college yard. In those days the
very learned laws about _grouping_ were not in existence. A
collection of two was not then considered a sure prognostic of
rebellion, and spied out vigilantly by tutoric eyes. A _group_ of
three was not reckoned a gross outrage of the college peace, and
punished severely by the subtraction of some dozens from the
numerical rank of the unfortunate youth engaged in so high a
misdemeanor. A congregation of four was not esteemed an open,
avowed contempt of the laws of decency and propriety, prophesying
utter combustion, desolation, and destruction to all buildings and
trees in the neighborhood; and lastly, a multitude of five, though
watched with a little jealousy, was not called an intolerable,
unparalleled violation of everything approaching the name of
order, absolute, downright shamelessness, worthy capital
mark-punishment, alias the loss of 87-3/4 digits!--_Harvardiana_,
Vol. III. p. 314.
The above passage and the following are both evidently of a
satirical nature.
And often _grouping_ on the chains, he hums his own sweet verse,
Till Tutor ----, coming up, commands him to disperse!
_Poem before Y.H._, 1849, p. 14.
GRUB. A hard student. Used at Williams College, and synonymous
with DIG at other colleges. A correspondent says, writing from
Williams: "Our real delvers, midnight students, are familiarly
called _Grubs_. This is a very expressive name."
A man must not be ashamed to be called a _grub_ in college, if he
would shine in the world.--_Sketches of Williams College_, p. 76.
Some there are who, though never known to read or study, are ever
ready to debate,--not "_grubs_" or "reading men," only "wordy
men."--_Williams Quarterly_, Vol. II. p. 246.
GRUB. To study hard; to be what is denominated a _grub_, or hard
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