A Collection of College Words and Customs Part 60

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_ a.s.signed him will be regarded as a high offence.--_Laws Univ. at Cam., Ma.s.s._, 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.

Pa.s.s. At Oxford, permission to receive the degree of B.A. after pa.s.sing the necessary examinations.

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

Pa.s.s 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 "_pa.s.s_"

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.

Pa.s.sMAN. At Oxford, one who merely pa.s.ses his examination, and obtains testimonials for a degree, but is not able to obtain any honors or distinctions. Opposed to CLa.s.sMAN, q.v.

"Have the _pa.s.smen_ done their paper work yet?" asked Whitbread.

"However, the schools, I dare say, will not be open to the cla.s.smen 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.

P.D. An abbreviation of _Philosophiae Doctor_, Doctor of Philosophy. "In the German universities," says Brande, "the t.i.tle 'Doctor Philosophiae' has long been subst.i.tuted for Baccalaureus Artium or Literarium."

PEACH. To inform against; to communicate facts by way of accusation.

It being rather advisable to enter college before twelve, or to stay out all night, bribing the bed-maker next morning not to _peach_.--_Alma Mater_, Vol. I. p. 190.

When, by a little spying, I can reach The height of my ambition, I must _peach_.

_The Gallinipper_, Dec. 1849.

PEMBROKER. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., a member of Pembroke College.

The _Pembroker_ was booked to lead the Tripos.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 158.

PENE. Latin, _almost, nearly_. A candidate for admission to the Freshman Cla.s.s is called a _Pene_, that is, _almost_ a Freshman.

PENNILESS BENCH. Archdeacon Nares, in his Glossary, says of this phrase: "A cant term for a state of poverty. There was a public seat so called in Oxford; but I fancy it was rather named from the common saying, than that derived from it."

Bid him bear up, he shall not Sit long on _penniless bench_.

_Ma.s.s. City Mad._, IV. 1.

That everie stool he sate on was _pennilesse bench_, that his robes were rags.--_Euphues and his Engl._, D. 3.

PENSIONER. French, _pensionnaire_, one who pays for his board. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., and in that of Dublin, a student of the second rank, who is not dependent on the foundation for support, but pays for his board and other charges. Equivalent to COMMONER at Oxford, or OPPIDANT of Eton school.--_Brande. Gent.

Mag._, 1795.

PERUVIAN. At the University of Vermont, a name by which the students designate a lady; e.g., "There are two hundred _Peruvians_ at the Seminary"; or, "The _Peruvians_ are in the observatory." As ill.u.s.trative of the use of this word, a correspondent observes: "If John Smith has a particular regard for any one of the Burlington ladies, and Tom Brown happens to meet the said lady in his town peregrinations, when he returns to College, if he meets John Smith, he (Tom) says to John, 'In yonder village I espied a _Peruvian_'; by which John understands that Tom has had the very great pleasure of meeting John's Dulcinea."

PETTY COMPOUNDER. At Oxford, one who pays more than ordinary fees for his degree.

"A _Petty Compounder_," says the Oxford University Calendar, "must possess ecclesiastical income of the annual value of five shillings, or property of any other description amounting in all to the sum of five pounds, per annum."--Ed. 1832, p. 92.

PHEEZE, or FEEZE. At the University of Vermont, to pledge. If a student is pledged to join any secret society, he is said to be _pheezed_ or _feezed_.

PHI BETA KAPPA. The fraternity of the [Greek: Phi Beta Kappa] "was imported," says Allyn in his Ritual, "into this country from France, in the year 1776; and, as it is said, by Thomas Jefferson, late President of the United States." It was originally chartered as a society in William and Mary College, in Virginia, and was organized at Yale College, Nov. 13th, 1780. By virtue of a charter formally executed by the president, officers, and members of the original society, it was established soon after at Harvard College, through the influence of Mr. Elisha Parmele, a graduate of the year 1778. The first meeting in Cambridge was held Sept.

5th, 1781. The original Alpha of Virginia is now extinct.

"Its objects," says Mr. Quincy, in his History of Harvard University, "were the 'promotion of literature and friendly intercourse among scholars'; and its name and motto indicate, that 'philosophy, including therein religion as well as ethics, is worthy of cultivation as the guide of life.' This society took an early and a deep root in the University; its exercises became public, and admittance into it an object of ambition; but the 'discrimination' which its selection of members made among students, became an early subject of question and discontent. In October, 1789, a committee of the Overseers, of which John Hanc.o.c.k was chairman, reported to that board, 'that there is an inst.i.tution in the University, with the nature of which the government is not acquainted, which tends to make a discrimination among the students'; and submitted to the board 'the propriety of inquiring into its nature and designs.' The subject occasioned considerable debate, and a pet.i.tion, of the nature of a complaint against the society, by a number of the members of the Senior Cla.s.s, having been presented, its consideration was postponed, and it was committed; but it does not appear from the records, that any further notice was taken of the pet.i.tion. The influence of the society was upon the whole deemed salutary, since literary merit was a.s.sumed as the principle on which its members were selected; and, so far, its influence harmonized with the honorable motives to exertion which have ever been held out to the students by the laws and usages of the College. In process of time, its catalogue included almost every member of the Immediate Government, and fairness in the selection of members has been in a great degree secured by the practice it has adopted, of ascertaining those in every cla.s.s who stand the highest, in point of conduct and scholarship, according to the estimates of the Faculty of the College, and of generally regarding those estimates. Having gradually increased in numbers, popularity, and importance, the day after Commencement was adopted for its annual celebration.

These occasions have uniformly attracted a highly intelligent and cultivated audience, having been marked by a display of learning and eloquence, and having enriched the literature of the country with some of its brightest gems."--Vol. II. p. 398.

The immediate members of the society at Cambridge were formerly accustomed to hold semi-monthly meetings, the exercises of which were such as are usual in literary a.s.sociations. At present, meetings are seldom held except for the purpose of electing members. Affiliated societies have been established at Dartmouth, Union, and Bowdoin Colleges, at Brown and the Wesleyan Universities, at the Western Reserve College, at the University of Vermont, and at Amherst College, and they number among their members many of the most distinguished men in our country. The letters which const.i.tute the name of the society are the initials of its motto, [Greek: Philosophia, Biou Kubernaetaes], Philosophy, the Guide of Life.

A further account of this society may be found in Allyn's Ritual of Freemasonry, ed. 1831, pp. 296-302.

PHILISTINE. In Germany this name, or what corresponds to it in that country, _Philister_, is given by the students to tradesmen and others not belonging to the university.

Und hat der Bursch kein Geld im Beutel, So pumpt er die Philister an.

And has the Bursch his cash expended?

To sponge the _Philistine's_ his plan.

_The Crambambuli Song_.

Mr. Halliwell, in his Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, says of this word, "a cant term applied to bailiffs, sheriffs'

officers, and drunkards." The idea of narrowmindedness, a contracted mode of thinking, and meanness, is usually connected with it, and in some colleges in the United States the name has been given to those whose characters correspond with this description.