Chapter 29

NESCIO. Latin; literally, _I do not know_. At the University of Cambridge, England, _to sport a nescio_, to shake the head, a signal that one does not understand or is ignorant of the subject. "After the Senate-House examination for degrees," says Grose, in his Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, "the students proceed to the schools, to be questioned by the proctor. According to custom immemorial, the answers _must_ be _Nescio_. The following is a translated specimen:--

"_Ques._ What is your, name? _Ans._ I do not know.

"_Ques._ What is the name of this University? _Ans._ I do not know.

"_Ques._ Who was your father? _Ans._ I do not know.

"The last is probably the only true answer of the three!"

NEWLING. In the German universities, a Freshman; one in his first half-year.

NEWY. At Princeton College, a fresh arrival.

NIGHTGOWN. A dressing-gown; a _deshabille_.

No student shall appear within the limits of the College, or town of Cambridge, in any other dress than in the uniform belonging to his respective class, unless he shall have on a _nightgown_, or such an outside garment as may be necessary over a coat.--_Laws Harv. Coll._, 1790.

NOBLEMAN. In the English universities, among the Undergraduates, the nobleman enjoys privileges and exemptions not accorded to others. At Oxford he wears a black-silk gown with full sleeves "couped" at the elbows, and a velvet cap with gold tassel, except on full-dress occasions, when his habit is of violet-figured damask silk, richly bedight with gold lace. At Cambridge he wears the plain black-silk gown and the hat of an M.A., except on feast days and state occasions, when he appears in a gown still more gorgeous than that of a Fellow-Commoner.--_Oxford Guide. Bristed_.

NO END OF. Bristed records this phrase as an intensive peculiar to the English Cantabs. Its import is obvious "They have _no end of_ tin; i.e. a great deal of money. He is _no end of_ a fool; i.e. the greatest fool possible."--_Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 24.

The use of this expression, with a similar signification, is common in some portions of the United States.

NON ENS. Latin; literally _not being_. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., one who has not been matriculated, though he has resided some time at the University; consequently is not considered as having any being. A Freshman in embryo.--_Grad. ad Cantab._

NON PARAVI. Latin; literally, _I have not prepared_. When Latin was spoken in the American colleges, this excuse was commonly given by scholars not prepared for recitation.

With sleepy eyes and countenance heavy, With much excuse of _non paravi_. _Trumbull's Progress of Dullness_, 1794, p. 8.

The same excuse is now frequently given in English.

The same individuals were also observed to be "_not prepared_" for the morning's recitation.--_Harvardiana_, Vol. II. p. 261.

I hear you whispering, with white lips, "_Not prepared_, sir."--_Burial of Euclid_, 1850, p. 9.

NON PLACET. Latin; literally, _It is not pleasing_. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., the term in which a _negative_ vote is given in the Senate-House.

To _non-placet_, with the meaning of the verb _to reject_, is sometimes used in familiar language.

A classical examiner, having marked two candidates belonging to his own College much higher than the other three examiners did, was suspected of partiality to them, and _non-placeted_ (rejected) next year when he came up for approval.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 231.

NON-READING MAN. See READING MAN.

The result of the May decides whether he will go out in honors or not,--that is, whether he will be a reading or a _non-reading man_.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 85.

NON-REGENT. In the English universities, a term applied to those Masters of Arts whose regency has ceased.--_Webster_.

See REGENT. SENATE.

NON-TERM. "When any member of the Senate," says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, "dies within the University during term, on application to the Vice-Chancellor, the University bell rings an hour; from which period _Non-Term_, as to public lectures and disputations, commences for three days."

NON VALUI. Latin; literally, _I was sick_. At Harvard College, when the students were obliged to speak Latin, it was usual for them to give the excuse _non valui_ for almost every absence or omission. The President called upon delinquents for their excuses in the chapel, after morning prayers, and these words were often pronounced so broadly as to sound like _non volui_, I did not wish [to go]. The quibble was not perceived for a long time, and was heartily enjoyed, as may be well supposed, by those who made use of it.

[Greek: Nous]. Greek; _sense_. A word adopted by, and in use among, students.

He is a lad of more [Greek: nous], and keeps better company.--_Pref. to Grad. ad Cantab._

Getting the better of them in anything which required the smallest exertion of [Greek: nous], was like being first in a donkey-race. --_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 30.

NUMBER FIFTY, NUMBER FORTY-NINE. At Trinity College, Hartford, the privies are known by these names. Jarvis Hall contains forty-eight rooms, and the numbers forty-nine and fifty follow in numerical continuation, but with a different application.

NUMBER TEN. At the Wesleyan University, the names "No. 10, and, as a sort of derivative, No. 1001, are applied to the privy." The former title is used also at the University of Vermont, and at Dartmouth College.

NUTS. A correspondent from Williams College says, "We speak of a person whom we despise as being a _nuts_." This word is used in the Yorkshire dialect with the meaning of a "silly fellow." Mr. Halliwell, in his Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, remarks: "It is not applied to an idiot, but to one who has been doing a foolish action."

_O_.

OAK. In the English universities, the outer door of a student's room.

No man has a right to attack the rooms of one with whom he is not in the habit of intimacy. From ignorance of this axiom I had near got a horse-whipping, and was kicked down stairs for going to a wrong _oak_, whose tenant was not in the habit of taking jokes of this kind.--_The Etonian_, Vol. II. p. 287.

A pecker, I must explain, is a heavy pointed hammer for splitting large coals; an instrument often put into requisition to force open an _oak_ (an outer door), when the key of the spring latch happens to be left inside, and the scout has gone away.--_The Collegian's Guide_, p. 119.

Every set of rooms is provided with an _oak_ or outer door, with a spring lock, of which the master has one latch-key, and the servant another.--_Ibid._, p. 141.

"To _sport oak_, or a door," says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, "is, in the modern phrase, to exclude duns, or other unpleasant intruders." It generally signifies, however, nothing more than locking or fastening one's door for safety or convenience.

I always "_sported my oak_" whenever I went out; and if ever I found any article removed from its usual place, I inquired for it; and thus showed I knew where everything was last placed.--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 141.

If you persist, and say you cannot join them, you must _sport your oak_, and shut yourself into your room, and all intruders out.--_Ibid._, p. 340.

Used also in some American colleges.

And little did they dream who knocked hard and often at his _oak_ in vain, &c.--_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. X. p. 47.

OATHS. At Yale College, those who were engaged in the government were formerly required to take the oaths of allegiance and abjuration appointed by the Parliament of England. In his Discourse before the Graduates of Yale College, President Woolsey gives the following account of this obligation:--

"The charter of 1745 imposed another test in the form of a political oath upon all governing officers in the College. They were required before they undertook the execution of their trusts, or within three months after, 'publicly in the College hall [to] take the oaths, and subscribe the declaration, appointed by an act of Parliament made in the first year of George the First, entitled, An Act for the further security of his Majesty's person and government, and the succession of the Crown in the heirs of the late Princess Sophia, being Protestants, and for extinguishing the hopes of the pretended Prince of Wales, and his open and secret abettors.' We cannot find the motive for prescribing this oath of allegiance and abjuration in the Protestant zeal which was enkindled by the second Pretender's movements in England,--for, although belonging to this same year 1745, these movements were subsequent to the charter,--but rather in the desire of removing suspicion of disloyalty, and conforming the practice in the College to that required by the law in the English universities. This oath was taken until it became an unlawful one, when the State assumed complete sovereignty at the Revolution. For some years afterwards, the officers took the oath of fidelity to the State of Connecticut, and I believe that the last instance of this occurred at the very end of the eighteenth century."--p. 40.

In the Diary of President Stiles, under the date of July 8, 1778, is the annexed entry, in which is given the formula of the oath required by the State:--

"The oath of fidelity administered to me by the Hon. Col. Hamlin, one of the Council of the State of Connecticut, at my inauguration.

"'You, Ezra Stiles, do swear by the name of the ever-living God, that you will be true and faithful to the State of Connecticut, as a free and independent State, and in all things do your duty as a good and faithful subject of the said State, in supporting the rights, liberties, and privileges of the same. So help you God.'

"This oath, substituted instead of that of allegiance to the King by the Assembly of Connecticut, May, 1777, to be taken by all in this State; and so it comes into use in Yale College."--_Woolsey's Hist. Discourse_, Appendix, p. 117.

[Greek: Hoi Aristoi.] Greek; literally, _the bravest_. At Princeton College, the aristocrats, or would-be aristocrats, are so called.

[Greek: Hoi Polloi.] Greek; literally, _the many_.

See POLLOI.

OLD BURSCH. A name given in the German universities to a student during his fourth term. Students of this term are also designated _Old Ones_.

As they came forward, they were obliged to pass under a pair of naked swords, held crosswise by two _Old Ones_.--_Longfellow's Hyperion_, p. 110.

OLD HOUSE. A name given in the German universities to a student during his fifth term.

OPPONENCY. The opening of an academical disputation; the proposition of objections to a tenet; an exercise for a degree.--_Todd_.

Mr. Webster remarks, "I believe not used in America."

In the old times, the university discharged this duty [teaching] by means of the public readings or lectures,... and by the keeping of acts and _opponencies_--being certain _vivâ voce_ disputations --by the students.--_The English Universities and their Reforms_, in _Blackwood's Magazine_, Feb. 1849.

OPPONENT. In universities and colleges, where disputations are carried on, the opponent is, in technical application, the person who begins the dispute by raising objections to some tenet or doctrine.

OPTIME. The title of those who stand in the second and third ranks of honors, immediately after the Wranglers, in the University of Cambridge, Eng. They are called respectively _Senior_ and _Junior Optimes_.

See JUNIOR OPTIME, POLLOI, and SENIOR OPTIME.

OPTIONAL. At some American colleges, the student is obliged to pursue during a part of the course such studies as are prescribed. During another portion of the course, he is allowed to select from certain branches those which he desires to follow. The latter are called _optional_ studies. In familiar conversation and writing, the word _optional_ is used alone.

For _optional_ will come our way, And lectures furnish time to play, 'Neath elm-tree shade to smoke all day. _Songs, Biennial Jubilee_, Yale Coll., 1855.

ORIGINAL COMPOSITION. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., an essay or theme written by a student in Latin, Greek, or Hebrew, is termed _original_ composition.

Composition there is of course, but more Latin than Greek, and some _original Composition_.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 137.

_Original Composition_--that is, Composition in the true sense of the word--in the dead languages is not much practised.--_Ibid._, p. 185.

OVERSEER. The general government of the colleges in the United States is vested in some instances in a Corporation, in others in a Board of Trustees or Overseers, or, as in the case of Harvard College, in the two combined. The duties of the Overseers are, generally, to pass such orders and statutes as seem to them necessary for the prosperity of the college whose affairs they oversee, to dispose of its funds in such a manner as will be most advantageous, to appoint committees to visit it and examine the students connected with it, to ratify the appointment of instructors, and to hear such reports of the proceedings of the college government as require their concurrence.

OXFORD. The cap worn by the members of the University of Oxford, England, is called an _Oxford_ or _Oxford cap_. The same is worn at some American colleges on Exhibition and Commencement Days. In shape, it is square and flat, covered with black cloth; from the centre depends a tassel of black cord. It is further described in the following passage.

My back equipped, it was not fair My head should 'scape, and so, as square As chessboard, A _cap_ I bought, my skull to screen, Of cloth without, and all within Of pasteboard. _Terræ-Filius_, Vol. II. p. 225.

Thunders of clapping!--As he bows, on high "Præses" his "_Oxford_" doffs, and bows reply. _Childe Harvard_, p. 36.

It is sometimes called a _trencher cap_, from its shape.

See CAP.

OXFORD-MIXED. Cloth such as is worn at the University of Oxford, England. The students in Harvard College were formerly required to wear this kind of cloth as their uniform. The color is given in the following passage: "By black-mixed (called also _Oxford-mixed_) is understood, black with a mixture of not more than one twentieth, nor less than one twenty-fifth, part of white."--_Laws of Harv. Coll._, 1826, p. 25.

He generally dresses in _Oxford-mixed_ pantaloons, and a brown surtout.--_Collegian_, p. 240.

It has disappeared along with Commons, the servility of Freshmen and brutality of Sophomores, the _Oxford-mixed_ uniform and buttons of the same color.--_Harv. Mag._, Vol. I. p. 263.

OXONIAN. A student or graduate of the University of Oxford, England.

_P_.

PANDOWDY BAND. A correspondent writing from Bowdoin College says: "We use the word _pandowdy_, and we have a custom of _pandowdying_. The Pandowdy Band, as it is called, has no regular place nor time of meeting. The number of performers varies from half a dozen and less to fifty or more. The instruments used are commonly horns, drums, tin-kettles, tongs, shovels, triangles, pumpkin-vines, &c. The object of the band is serenading Professors who have rendered themselves obnoxious to students; and sometimes others,--frequently tutors are entertained by 'heavenly music' under their windows, at dead of night. This is regarded on all hands as an unequivocal expression of the feelings of the students.

"The band corresponds to the _Calliathump_ of Yale. Its name is a burlesque on the _Pandean Band_ which formerly existed in this college."

See HORN-BLOWING.

PAPE. Abbreviated from PAPER, q.v.

Old Hamlen, the printer, he got out the _papes_. _Presentation Day Songs_, Yale Coll., June 14, 1854.

But Soph'more "_papes_," and Soph'more scrapes, Have long since passed away.--_Ibid._

PAPER. In the English Universities, a sheet containing certain questions, to which answers are to be given, is called _a paper_.

_To beat a paper_, is to get more than full marks for it. In explanation of this "apparent Hibernicism," Bristed remarks: "The ordinary text-books are taken as the standard of excellence, and a very good man will sometimes express the operations more neatly and cleverly than they are worded in these books, in which case he is entitled to extra marks for style."--_Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 238.

2. This name is applied at Yale College to the printed scheme which is used at the Biennial Examinations. Also, at Harvard College, to the printed sheet by means of which the examination for entrance is conducted.

PARCHMENT. A diploma, from the substance on which it is usually printed, is in familiar language sometimes called a _parchment_.

There are some, who, relying not upon the "_parchment_ and seal" as a passport to favor, bear that with them which shall challenge notice and admiration.--_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. III. p. 365.

The passer-by, unskilled in ancient lore, Whose hands the ribboned _parchment_ never bore. _Class Poem at Harv. Coll._, 1835, p. 7.

See SHEEPSKIN.

PARIETAL. From Latin _paries_, a wall; properly, _a partition-wall_, from the root of _part_ or _pare_. Pertaining to a wall.--_Webster_.

At Harvard College the officers resident within the College walls constitute a permanent standing committee, called the Parietal Committee. They have particular cognizance of all tardinesses at prayers and Sabbath services, and of all offences against good order and decorum. They are allowed to deduct from the rank of a student, not exceeding one hundred for one offence. In case any offence seems to them to require a higher punishment than deduction, it is reported to the Faculty.--_Laws_, 1850, App.

Had I forgotten, alas! the stern _pariètal_ monitions? _Harvardiana_, Vol. III. p. 98.

The chairman of the Parietal Committee is often called the _Parietal Tutor_.

I see them shaking their fists in the face of the _parietal tutor_.--_Oration before H.L. of I.O. of O.F._, 1849.

The members of the committee are called, in common parlance, _Parietals_.

Four rash and inconsiderate proctors, two tutors, and five _parietals_, each with a mug and pail in his hand, in their great haste to arrive at the scene of conflagration, ran over the Devil, and knocked him down stairs.--_Harvardiana_, Vol. III. p. 124.

And at the loud laugh of thy gurgling throat, The _pariètals_ would forget themselves. _Ibid._, Vol. III. p. 399 et passim.

Did not thy starting eyeballs think to see Some goblin _pariètal_ grin at thee? _Ibid._, Vol. IV. p. 197.

The deductions made by the Parietal Committee are also called _Parietals_.

How now, ye secret, dark, and tuneless chanters, What is 't ye do? Beware the _pariètals_. _Harvardiana_, Vol. III. p. 44.

Reckon on the fingers of your mind the reprimands, deductions, _parietals_, and privates in store for you.--_Orat. H.L. of I.O. of O.F._, 1848.

The accent of this word is on the antepenult; by _poetic license_, in four of the passages above quoted, it is placed on the penult.

PART. A literary appointment assigned to a student to be kept at an Exhibition or Commencement. In Harvard College as soon as the parts for an Exhibition or Commencement are assigned, the subjects and the names of the performers are given to some member of one of the higher classes, who proceeds to read them to the students from a window of one of the buildings, after proposing the usual "three cheers" for each of the classes, designating them by the years in which they are to graduate. As the name of each person who has a part assigned him is read, the students respond with cheers. This over, the classes are again cheered, the reader of the parts is applauded, and the crowd disperses except when the mock parts are read, or the officers of the Navy Club resign their trusts.

Referring to the proceedings consequent upon the announcement of appointments, Professor Sidney Willard, in his late work, entitled "Memories of Youth and Manhood," says of Harvard College: "The distribution of parts to be performed at public exhibitions by the students was, particularly for the Commencement exhibition, more than fifty years ago, as it still is, one of the most exciting events of College life among those immediately interested, in which parents and near friends also deeply sympathized with them. These parts were communicated to the individuals appointed to perform them by the President, who gave to them, severally, a paper with the name of the person and of the part assigned, and the subject to be written upon. But they were not then, as in recent times, after being thus communicated by the President, proclaimed by a voluntary herald of stentorian lungs, mounted on the steps of one of the College halls, to the assembled crowd of students. Curiosity, however, was all alive. Each one's part was soon ascertained; the comparative merits of those who obtained the prizes were discussed in groups; prompt judgments were pronounced, that A had received a higher prize than he could rightfully claim, and that B was cruelly wronged; that some were unjustly passed over, and others raised above them through partiality. But at whatever length their discussion might have been prolonged, they would have found it difficult in solemn conclave to adjust the distribution to their own satisfaction, while severally they deemed themselves competent to measure the degree in the scale of merit to which each was entitled."--Vol. I. pp. 328, 329.

I took but little pains with these exercises myself, lest I should appear to be anxious for "_parts_."--_Monthly Anthology_, Boston, 1804, Vol. I. p. 154.

Often, too, the qualifications for a _part_ ... are discussed in the fireside circles so peculiar to college.--_Harv. Reg._, p. 378.

The refusal of a student to perform the _part_ assigned him will be regarded as a high offence.--_Laws Univ. at Cam., Mass._, 1848, p. 19.

Young men within the College walls are incited to good conduct and diligence, by the system of awarding _parts_, as they are called, at the exhibitions which take place each year, and at the annual Commencement.--_Eliot's Sketch of Hist. Harv. Coll._, pp. 114, 115.

It is very common to speak of _getting parts_.

Here Are acres of orations, and so forth, The glorious nonsense that enchants young hearts With all the humdrumology of "_getting parts_." _Our Chronicle of '26_, Boston, 1827, p. 28.

See under MOCK-PART and NAVY CLUB.

PASS. At Oxford, permission to receive the degree of B.A. after passing the necessary examinations.

The good news of the _pass_ will be a set-off against the few small debts.--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 254.

PASS EXAMINATION. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., an examination which is required for the B.A. degree. Of these examinations there are three during a student's undergraduateship.

Even the examinations which are disparagingly known as "_pass_" ones, the Previous, the Poll, and (since the new regulations) the Junior Optime, require more than half marks on their papers.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 319.

PASSMAN. At Oxford, one who merely passes his examination, and obtains testimonials for a degree, but is not able to obtain any honors or distinctions. Opposed to CLASSMAN, q.v.

"Have the _passmen_ done their paper work yet?" asked Whitbread. "However, the schools, I dare say, will not be open to the classmen till Monday."--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 309.

PATRON. At some of the Colleges in the United States, the patron is appointed to take charge of the funds, and to regulate the expenses, of students who reside at a distance. Formerly, students who came within this provision were obliged to conform to the laws in reference to the patron; it is now left optional.