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p. 114.
Rent for these apartments is exacted from Sophomores, about sixty
_rooming_ out of college.--_Burlesque Catalogue_, Yale Coll.,
1852-53, p. 26.
ROOT. A word first used in the sense given below by Dr. Paley. "He
[Paley] held, indeed, all those little arts of underhand address,
by which patronage and preferment are so frequently pursued, in
supreme contempt. He was not of a nature to _root_; for that was
his own expressive term, afterwards much used in the University to
denote the sort of practice alluded to. He one day humorously
proposed, at some social meeting, that a certain contemporary
Fellow of his College [Christ's College, Cambridge, Eng.], at that
time distinguished for his elegant and engaging manners, and who
has since attained no small eminence in the Church of England,
should be appointed _Professor of Rooting_."--_Memoirs of Paley_.
2. To study hard; to DIG, q.v.
Ill-favored men, eager for his old boots and diseased raiment,
torment him while _rooting_ at his Greek.--_Harv. Mag._, Vol. I.
p. 267.
ROT. Twaddle, platitude. In use among the students at the
University of Cambridge, Eng.--_Bristed_.
ROWES. The name of a party which formerly existed at Dartmouth
College. They are thus described in The Dartmouth, Vol. IV. p.
117: "The _Rowes_ are very liberal in their notions. The Rowes
don't pretend to say anything worse of a fellow than to call him a
_Blue_, and _vice versā_."
See BLUES.
ROWING. The making of loud and noisy disturbance; acting like a
_rowdy_.
Flushed with the juice of the grape,
all prime and ready for _rowing_.
When from the ground I raised
the fragments of ponderous brickbat.
_Harvardiana_, Vol. III. p. 98.
The Fellow-Commoners generally being more disposed to _rowing_
than reading.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d. p.
34.
ROWING-MAN. One who is more inclined to fast living than hard
study. Among English students used in contradistinction to
READING-MAN, q.v.
When they go out to sup, as a reading-man does perhaps once a
term, and a _rowing-man_ twice a week, they eat very moderately,
though their potations are sometimes of the deepest.--_Bristed's
Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 21.
ROWL, ROWEL. At Princeton, Union, and Hamilton Colleges, this word
is used to signify a good recitation. Used in the phrase, "to make
a _rowl_." From the second of these colleges, a correspondent
writes: "Also of the word _rowl_; if a public speaker presents a
telling appeal or passage, he would _make a perfect rowl_, in the
language of all students at least."
ROWL. To recite well. A correspondent from Princeton College
defines this word, "to perform any exercise well, recitation,
speech, or composition; to succeed in any branch or pursuit."
RUSH. At Yale College, a perfect recitation is denominated a
_rush_.
I got my lesson perfectly, and what is more, made a perfect
_rush_.--_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XIII. p. 134.
Every _rush_ and fizzle made
Every body frigid laid.
_Ibid._, Vol. XX. p. 186.
This mark [that of a hammer with a note, "hit the nail on the
head"] signifies that the student makes a capital hit; in other
words, a decided _rush_.--_Yale Banger_, Nov. 10, 1846.
In dreams his many _rushes_ heard.
_Ibid._, Oct. 22, 1847.
This word is much used among students with the common meaning;
thus, they speak of "a _rush_ into prayers," "a _rush_ into the
recitation-room," &c. A correspondent from Dartmouth College says:
"_Rushing_ the Freshmen is putting them out of the chapel."
Another from Williams writes: "Such a man is making a _rush_, and
to this we often add--for the Valedictory."
The gay regatta where the Oneida led,
The glorious _rushes_, Seniors at the head.
_Class Poem, Harv. Coll._, 1849.
One of the Trinity men ... was making a tremendous _rush_ for a
Fellowship.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p.
158.
RUSH. To recite well; to make a perfect recitation.
It was purchased by the man,--who 'really did not look' at the
lesson on which he '_rushed_.'--_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XIV. p.
411.
Then for the students mark flunks, even though the young men may
be _rushing_.--_Yale Banger_, Oct., 1848.
So they pulled off their coats, and rolled up their sleeves,
And _rushed_ in Bien. Examination.
_Presentation Day Songs, Yale Coll._, June 14, 1854.
RUSTICATE. To send a student for a time from a college or
university, to reside in the country, by way of punishment for
some offence.
See a more complete definition under RUSTICATION.
And those whose crimes are very great,
Let us suspend or _rusticate_.--_Rebelliad_, p. 24.
The "scope" of what I have to state
Is to suspend and _rusticate_.--_Ibid._, p. 28.
The same meaning is thus paraphrastically conveyed:--
By my official power, I swear,
That you shall _smell the country air_.--_Rebelliad_, p. 45.
RUSTICATION. In universities and colleges, the punishment of a
student for some offence, by compelling him to leave the
institution, and reside for a time in the country, where he is
obliged to pursue with a private instructor the studies with which
his class are engaged during his term of separation, and in which
he is obliged to pass a satisfactory examination before he can be
reinstated in his class.
It seems plain from his own verses to Diodati, that Milton had
incurred _rustication_,--a temporary dismission into the country,
with, perhaps, the loss of a term.--_Johnson_.
Take then this friendly exhortation.
The next offence is _Rustication_.
_MS. Poem_, by John Q. Adams.
RUST-RINGING. At Hamilton College, "the Freshmen," writes a
correspondent, "are supposed to lose some of their verdancy at the
end of the last term of that year, and the 'ringing off their
rust' consists in ringing the chapel bell--commencing at midnight
--until the rope wears out. During the ringing, the upper classes
are diverted by the display of numerous fire-works, and enlivened
by most beautifully discordant sounds, called 'music,' made to
issue from tin kettle-drums, horse-fiddles, trumpets, horns, &c.,
&c."
_S_.
SACK. To expel. Used at Hamilton College.
SAIL. At Bowdoin College, a _sail_ is a perfect recitation. To
_sail_ is to recite perfectly.
SAINT. A name among students for one who pretends to particular
sanctity of manners.
Or if he had been a hard-reading man from choice,--or a stupid
man,--or a "_saint_,"--no one would have troubled themselves about
him.--_Blackwood's Mag._, Eng. ed., Vol. LX. p. 148.
SALTING THE FRESHMEN. In reference to this custom, which belongs
to Dartmouth College, a correspondent from that institution
writes: "There is an annual trick of '_salting the Freshmen_,'
which is putting salt and water on their seats, so that their
clothes are injured when they sit down." The idea of preservation,
cleanliness, and health is no doubt intended to be conveyed by the
use of the wholesome articles salt and water.
SALUTATORIAN. The student of a college who pronounces the
salutatory oration at the annual Commencement.--_Webster_.
SALUTATORY. An epithet applied to the oration which introduces the
exercises of the Commencements in American colleges.--_Webster_.
The oration is often called, simply, _The Salutatory_.
And we ask our friends "out in the world," whenever they meet an
educated man of the class of '49, not to ask if he had the
Valedictory or _Salutatory_, but if he takes the
Indicator.--_Amherst Indicator_, Vol. II. p. 96.
SATIS. Latin; literally, _enough_. In the University of Cambridge,
Eng., the lowest honor in the schools. The manner in which this
word is used is explained in the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, as
follows: "_Satis disputasti_; which is at much as to say, in the
colloquial style, 'Bad enough.' _Satis et bene disputasti_,
'Pretty fair,--tolerable.' _Satis et optime disputasti_, 'Go thy
ways, thou flower and quintessence of Wranglers.' Such are the
compliments to be expected from the Moderator, after the _act is
kept_."--p. 95.
S.B. An abbreviation for _Scientię Baccalaureus_, Bachelor in
Science. At Harvard College, this degree is conferred on those who
have pursued a prescribed course of study for at least one year in
the Scientific School, and at the end of that period passed a
satisfactory examination. The different degrees of excellence are
expressed in the diploma by the words, _cum laude_, _cum magna
laude_, _cum summa laude_.
SCARLET DAY. In the Church of England, certain festival days are
styled _scarlet days_. On these occasions, the doctors in the
three learned professions appear in their scarlet robes, and the
noblemen residing in the universities wear their full
dresses.--_Grad. ad Cantab._
SCHEME. The printed papers which are given to the students at Yale
College at the Biennial Examination, and which contain the
questions that are to be answered, are denominated _schemes_. They
are also called, simply, _papers_.
See the down-cast air, and the blank despair,
That sits on each Soph'more feature,
As his bleared eyes gleam o'er that horrid _scheme_!
_Songs of Yale_, 1853, p. 22.
Olmsted served an apprenticeship setting up types,
For the _schemes_ of Bien. Examination.
_Presentation Day Songs_, June 14, 1854.
Here's health to the tutors who gave us good _schemes_,
Vive la compagnie!
_Songs, Biennial Jubilee_, 1855.
SCHOLAR. Any member of a college, academy, or school.
2. An undergraduate in English universities, who belongs to the
foundation of a college, and receives support in part from its
revenues.--_Webster_.
SCHOLAR OF THE HOUSE. At Yale College, those are called _Scholars
of the House_ who, by superiority in scholarship, become entitled
to receive the income arising from certain foundations established
for the purpose of promoting learning and literature. In some
cases the recipient is required to remain at New Haven for a
specified time, and pursue a course of studies under the direction
of the Faculty of the College.--_Sketches of Yale Coll._, p. 86.
_Laws of Yale Coll._
2. "The _scholar of the house_," says President Woolsey, in his
Historical Discourse,--"_scholaris ędilitus_ of the Latin
laws,--before the institution of Berkeley's scholarships which had
the same title, was a kind of ędile appointed by the President and
Tutors to inspect the public buildings, and answered in a degree
to the Inspector known to our present laws and practice. He was
not to leave town until the Friday after Commencement, because in
that week more than usual damage was done to the buildings."--p.
43.
The duties of this officer are enumerated in the annexed passage.
"The Scholar of the House, appointed by the President, shall
diligently observe and set down the glass broken in College
windows, and every other damage done in College, together with the
time when, and the person by whom, it was done; and every quarter
he shall make up a bill of such damages, charged against every
scholar according to the laws of College, and deliver the same to
the President or the Steward, and the Scholar of the House shall
tarry at College until Friday noon after the public Commencement,
and in that time shall be obliged to view any damage done in any
chamber upon the information of him to whom the chamber is
assigned."--_Laws of Yale Coll._, 1774, p. 22.
SCHOLARSHIP. Exhibition or maintenance for a scholar; foundation
for the support of a student--_Ainsworth_.
SCHOOL. THE SCHOOLS, _pl._; the seminaries for teaching logic,
metaphysics, and theology, which were formed in the Middle Ages,
and which were characterized by academical disputations and
subtilties of reasoning; or the learned men who were engaged in
discussing nice points in metaphysics or theology.--_Webster_.
2. In some American colleges, the different departments for
teaching law, medicine, divinity, &c. are denominated _schools_.
3. The name given at the University of Oxford to the place of
examination. The principal exercises consist of disputations in
philosophy, divinity, and law, and are always conducted in a sort
of barbarous Latin.
I attended the _Schools_ several times, with the view of acquiring
the tact and self-possession so requisite in these public
contests.--_Alma Mater_, Vol. II. p. 39.
There were only two sets of men there, one who fagged
unremittingly for the _Schools_, and another devoted to frivolity
and dissipation.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d,
p. 141.
S.C.L. At the English universities, one who is pursuing law
studies and has not yet received the degree of B.C.L. or D.C.L.,
is designated S.C.L., _Student_ in or of _Civil Law_.
At the University of Cambridge, Eng., persons in this rank who
have kept their acts wear a full-sleeved gown, and are entitled to
use a B.A. hood.
SCONCE. To mulct; to fine. Used at the University of Oxford.
A young fellow of Baliol College, having, upon some discontent cut
his throat very dangerously, the Master of the College sent his
servitor to the buttery-book to _sconce_ (i.e. fine) him 5s.; and,
says the Doctor, tell him the next time he cuts his throat I'll
_sconce_ him ten.--_Terrę-Filius_, No. 39.
Was _sconced_ in a quart of ale for quoting Latin, a passage from
Juvenal; murmured, and the fine was doubled.--_The Etonian_, Vol.
II. p. 391.
SCOUT. A cant term at Oxford for a college servant or
waiter.--_Oxford Guide_.
My _scout_, indeed, is a very learned fellow, and has an excellent
knack at using hard words. One morning he told me the gentleman in
the next room _contagious_ to mine desired to speak to me. I once
overheard him give a fellow-servant very sober advice not to go
astray, but be true to his own wife; for _idolatry_ would surely
bring a man to _instruction_ at last.--_The Student_, Oxf. and
Cam., 1750, Vol. I. p. 55.
An anteroom, or vestibule, which serves the purpose of a _scout's_
pantry.--_The Etonian_, Vol. II. p. 280.
_Scouts_ are usually pretty communicative of all they
know.--_Blackwood's Mag._, Eng. ed., Vol. LX. p. 147.
Sometimes used in American colleges.
In order to quiet him, we had to send for his factotum or _scout_,
an old black fellow.--_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XI. p. 282.
SCRAPE. To insult by drawing the feet over the floor.--_Grose_.
But in a manner quite uncivil,
They hissed and _scraped_ him like the devil.
_Rebelliad_, p. 37.
"I do insist,"
Quoth he, "that two, who _scraped_ and hissed,
Shall be condemned without a jury
To pass the winter months _in rure_."--_Ibid._, p. 41.
They not unfrequently rose to open outrage or some personal
molestation, as casting missiles through his windows at night, or
"_scraping him_" by day.--_A Tour through College_, Boston, 1832,
p. 25.
SCRAPING. A drawing of, or the act of drawing, the feet over the
floor, as an insult to some one, or merely to cause disturbance; a
shuffling of the feet.
New lustre was added to the dignity of their feelings by the
pathetic and impressive manner in which they expressed them, which
was by stamping and _scraping_ majestically with their feet, when
in the presence of the detested tutors.--_Don Quixotes at
College_, 1807.
The morning and evening daily prayers were, on the next day
(Thursday), interrupted by _scraping_, whistling, groaning, and
other disgraceful noises.--_Circular, Harvard College_, 1834, p.
9.
This word is used in the universities and colleges of both England
and America.
SCREW. In some American colleges, an excessive, unnecessarily
minute, and annoying examination of a student by an instructor is
called a _screw_. The instructor is often designated by the same
name.
Haunted by day with fearful _screw_.
_Harvard Lyceum_, p. 102.
_Screws_, duns, and other such like evils.
_Rebelliad_, p. 77.
One must experience all the stammering and stuttering, the
unending doubtings and guessings, to understand fully the power of
a mathematical _screw_.--_Harv. Reg._, p. 378.
The consequence was, a patient submission to the _screw_, and a
loss of college honors and patronage.--_A Tour through College_,
Boston, 1832, p. 26.
I'll tell him a whopper next time, and astonish him so that he'll
forget his _screws_.--_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XI. p. 336.
What a darned _screw_ our tutor is.--_Ibid._
Apprehension of the severity of the examination, or what in after
times, by an academic figure of speech, was called screwing, or a
_screw_, was what excited the chief dread.--_Willard's Memories of
Youth and Manhood_, Vol. I. p. 256.
Passing such an examination is often denominated _taking a screw_.
And sad it is to _take a screw_.
_Harv. Reg._, p. 287.
2. At Bowdoin College, an imperfect recitation is called a
_screw_.
You never should look blue, sir,
If you chance to take a "_screw_," sir,
To us it's nothing new, sir,
To drive dull care away.
_The Bowdoin Creed_.
We've felt the cruel, torturing _screw_,
And oft its driver's ire.
_Song, Sophomore Supper, Bowdoin Coll._, 1850.
SCREW. To press with an excessive and unnecessarily minute
examination.
Who would let a tutor knave
_Screw _him like a Guinea slave!
_Rebelliad_, p. 53.
Have I been _screwed_, yea, deaded morn and eve,
Some dozen moons of this collegiate life?
_Harvardiana_, Vol. III. p. 255.
O, I do well remember when in college,
How we fought reason,--battles all in play,--
Under a most portentous man of knowledge,
The captain-general in the bloodless fray;
He was a wise man, and a good man, too,
And robed himself in green whene'er he came to _screw_.
_Our Chronicle of '26_, Boston, 1827.
In a note to the last quotation, the author says of the word
_screw_: "For the information of the inexperienced, we explain
this as a term quite rife in the universities, and, taken
substantively, signifying an intellectual nonplus."
At last the day is ended,
The tutor _screws_ no more.
_Knick. Mag._, Vol. XLV. p. 195.
SCREWING UP. The meaning of this phrase, as understood by English
Cantabs, may be gathered from the following extract. "A
magnificent sofa will be lying close to a door ... bored through
from top to bottom from the _screwing up_ of some former unpopular
tenant; "_screwing up_" being the process of fastening on the
outside, with nails and screws, every door of the hapless wight's
apartments. This is done at night, and in the morning the
gentleman is leaning three-fourths out of his window, bawling for
rescue."--_Westminster Rev._, Am. Ed., Vol. XXXV. p. 239.
SCRIBBLING-PAPER. A kind of writing-paper, rather inferior in
quality, a trifle larger than foolscap, and used at the English
universities by mathematicians and in the lecture-room.--_Bristed.
Grad. ad Cantab._
Cards are commonly sold at Cambridge as
"_scribbling-paper_."--_Westminster Rev._, Am. ed., Vol. XXXV. p.
238.
The summer apartment contained only a big standing-desk, the
eternal "_scribbling-paper_," and the half-dozen mathematical
works required.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d,
p. 218.
SCROUGE. An exaction. A very long lesson, or any hard or
unpleasant task, is usually among students denominated a
_scrouge_.
SCROUGE. To exact; to extort; said of an instructor who imposes
difficult tasks on his pupils.
It is used provincially in England, and in America in some of the
Northern and Southern States, with the meaning _to crowd, to
squeeze_.--_Bartlett's Dict. of Americanisms_.
SCRUB. At Columbia College, a servant.
2. One who is disliked for his meanness, ill-breeding, or
vulgarity. Nearly equivalent to SPOON, q.v.
SCRUBBY. Possessing the qualities of a scrub. Partially synonymous
with the adjective SPOONY, q.v.
SCRUTATOR. In the University of Cambridge, England, an officer
whose duty it is to attend all _Congregations_, to read the
_graces_ to the lower house of the Senate, to gather the votes
secretly, or to take them openly in scrutiny, and publicly to
pronounce the assent or dissent of that house.--_Cam. Cal._
SECOND-YEAR MEN. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., the title
of _Second-Year Men_, or _Junior Sophs_ or _Sophisters_, is given
to students during the second year of their residence at the
University.
SECTION COURT. At Union College, the college buildings are divided
into sections, a section comprising about fifteen rooms. Within
each section is established a court, which is composed of a judge,
an advocate, and a secretary, who are chosen by the students
resident therein from their own number, and hold their offices
during one college term. Each section court claims the power to
summon for trial any inhabitant within the bounds of its
jurisdiction who may be charged with improper conduct. The accused
may either defend himself, or select some person to plead for him,
such residents of the section as choose to do so acting as jurors.
The prisoner, if found guilty, is sentenced at the discretion of
the court,--generally, to treat the company to some specified
drink or dainty. These courts often give occasion for a great deal
of fun, and sometimes call out real wit and eloquence.
At one of our "_section courts_," which those who expected to
enter upon the study of the law used to hold, &c.--_The Parthenon,
Union Coll._, 1851, p. 19.
SECTION OFFICER. At Union College, each section of the college
buildings, containing about fifteen rooms, is under the
supervision of a professor or tutor, who is styled the _section
officer_. This officer is required to see that there be no
improper noise in the rooms or corridors, and to report the
absence of students from chapel and recitation, and from their
rooms during study hours.
SEED. In Yale College this word is used to designate what is
understood by the common cant terms, "a youth"; "case"; "bird";
"b'hoy"; "one of 'em."
While tutors, every sport defeating,
And under feet-worn stairs secreting,
And each dark lane and alley beating,
Hunt up the _seeds_ in vain retreating.
_Yale Banger_, Nov. 1849.
The wretch had dared to flunk a gory _seed_!
_Ibid._, Nov. 1849.
One tells his jokes, the other tells his beads,
One talks of saints, the other sings of _seeds_.
_Ibid._, Nov. 1849.
But we are "_seeds_," whose rowdy deeds
Make up the drunken tale.
_Yale Tomahawk_, Nov. 1849.
First Greek he enters; and with reckless speed
He drags o'er stumps and roots each hapless _seed_.
_Ibid._, Nov. 1849.
Each one a bold _seed_, well fit for the deed,
But of course a little bit flurried.
_Ibid._, May, 1852.
SEEDY. At Yale College, rowdy, riotous, turbulent.
And snowballs, falling thick and fast
As oaths from _seedy_ Senior crowd.
_Yale Gallinipper_, Nov. 1848.
A _seedy_ Soph beneath a tree.
_Yale Gallinipper_, Nov. 1848.
2. Among English Cantabs, not well, out of sorts, done up; the
sort of feeling that a reading man has after an examination, or a
rowing man after a dinner with the Beefsteak Club. Also, silly,
easy to perform.--_Bristed_.
The owner of the apartment attired in a very old dressing-gown and
slippers, half buried in an arm-chair, and looking what some young
ladies call interesting, i.e. pale and _seedy_.--_Bristed's Five
Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 151.
You will seldom find anything very _seedy_ set for
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