A Collection of College Words and Customs Part 73

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 s...o...b..a.l.l.s, 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 Iambics.--_Ibid._, p. 182.

SELL. An unexpected reply; a deception or trick.

In the Literary World, March 15, 1851, is the following explanation of this word: "Mr. Phillips's first introduction to Curran was made the occasion of a mystification, or practical joke, in which Irish wits have excelled since the time of Dean Swift, who was wont (_vide_ his letters to Stella) to call these jocose tricks 'a _sell_,' from selling a bargain." The word _bargain_, however, which Johnson, in his Dictionary, defines "an unexpected reply tending to obscenity," was formerly used more generally among the English wits. The noun _sell_ has of late been revived in this country, and is used to a certain extent in New York and Boston, and especially among the students at Cambridge.

I sought some hope to borrow, by thinking it a "_sell_"

By fancying it a fiction, my anguish to dispel.

_Poem before the Iadma of Harv. Coll._, 1850, p. 8.

SELL. To give an unexpected answer; to deceive; to cheat.

For the love you bear me, never tell how badly I was _sold_.--_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XX. p. 94.

The use of this verb is much more common in the United States than that of the noun of the same spelling, which is derived from it; for instance, we frequently read in the newspapers that the Whigs or Democrats have been _sold_, i.e. defeated in an election, or cheated in some political affair. The phrase _to sell a bargain_, which Bailey defines "to put a sham upon one," is now scarcely ever heard. It was once a favorite expression with certain English writers.

Where _sold he bargains_, Whipst.i.tch?--_Dryden_.

No maid at court is less ashamed, Howe'er for _selling bargains_ famed.--_Swift_.

Dr. Sheridan, famous for punning, intending _to sell a bargain_, said, he had made a very good pun.--_Swift, Bons Mots de Stella_.

SEMESTER. Latin, _semestris_, _s.e.x_, six, and _mensis_, month. In the German universities, a period or term of six months. The course of instruction occupies six _semesters_. Cla.s.s distinctions depend upon the number of _semesters_, not of years. During the first _semester_, the student is called _Fox_, in the second _Burnt Fox_, and then, successively, _Young Bursch_, _Old Bursch_, _Old House_, and _Moss-covered Head_.

SENATE. In the University of Cambridge, England, the legislative body of the University. It is divided into two houses, called REGENT and NON-REGENT. The former consists of the vice-chancellor, proctors, taxors, moderators, and esquire-beadles, all masters of arts of less than five years' standing, and all doctors of divinity, civil law, and physic, of less than two, and is called the UPPER HOUSE, or WHITE-HOOD HOUSE, from its members wearing hoods lined with white silk. The latter is composed of masters of arts of five years' standing, bachelors of divinity, and doctors in the three faculties of two years' standing, and is known as the LOWER HOUSE, or BLACK-HOOD HOUSE, its members wearing black silk hoods. To have a vote in the Senate, the graduate must keep his name on the books of some college (which involves a small annual payment), or in the list of the _commorantes in villa_.--_Webster.

Cam. Cal. Lit. World_, Vol. XII. p. 283.

2. At Union College, the members of the Senior Cla.s.s form what is called the Senate, a body organized after the manner of the Senate of the United States, for the purpose of becoming acquainted with the forms and practice of legislation. The members of the Junior Cla.s.s compose the House of Representatives. The following account, showing in what manner the Senate is conducted, has been furnished by a member of Union College.

"On the last Friday of the third term, the House of Representatives meet in their hall, and await their initiation to the Upper House. There soon appears a committee of three, who inform them by their chairman of the readiness of the Senate to receive them, and perhaps enlarge upon the importance of the coming trust, and the ability of the House to fill it.

"When this has been done, the House, headed by the committee, proceed to the Senate Chamber (Senior Chapel), and are arranged by the committee around the President, the Senators (Seniors) meanwhile having taken the second floor. The President of the Senate then rises and delivers an appropriate address, informing them of their new dignities and the grave responsibilities of their station. At the conclusion of this they take their seats, and proceed to the election of officers, viz. a President, a Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The President must be a member of the Faculty, and is chosen for a term; the other officers are selected from the House, and continue in office but half a term. The first Vice-Presidency of the Senate is considered one of the highest honors conferred by the cla.s.s, and great is the strife to obtain it.

"The Senate meet again on the second Friday of the next term, when they receive the inaugural message of the President. He then divides them into seven districts, each district including the students residing in a Section, or Hall of College, except the seventh, which is filled by the students lodging in town. The Senate is also divided into a number of standing committees, as Law, Ethics, Political Economy. Business is referred to these committees, and reported on by them in the usual manner. The time of the Senate is princ.i.p.ally occupied with the discussion of resolutions, in committee of the whole; and these discussions take the place of the usual Friday afternoon recitation. At Commencement the Senate have an orator of their own election, who must, however, have been a past or honorary member of their body.

They also have a committee on the 'Commencement Card.'"

On the same subject, another correspondent writes as follows:--

"The Senate is composed of the Senior Cla.s.s, and is intended as a school of parliamentary usages. The officers are a President, Vice-President, and Secretary, who are chosen once a term. At the close of the second term, the Junior Cla.s.s are admitted into the Senate. They are introduced by a committee of Senators, and are expected to remain standing and uncovered during the ceremony, the President and Senators being seated and covered. After a short address by the President, the old Senators leave the house, and the Juniors proceed to elect their officers for the third term.

Dr. Thomas C. Reed who was the founder of the Senate, was always elected President during his connection with the College, but rarely took his place in the chamber except at the introduction of the Juniors. The Vice-President for the third term, who takes a part in the ceremonies of commencement, is considered to hold the highest honor of the cla.s.s, and his election is attended with more excitement than any other in the College."

See COMMENCEMENT CARD; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

SENATE-HOUSE. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., the building in which the public business of the University, such as examinations, the pa.s.sing of graces, and admission to degrees, is carried on.--_Cam. Guide_.

SENATUS ACADEMICUS. At Trinity College, Hartford, the _Senatus Academicus_ consists of two houses, known as the CORPORATION and the HOUSE OF CONVOCATION, q.v.--_Calendar Trin. Coll._, 1850, p.

6.

SENE. An abbreviation for Senior.

Magnificent Juns, and lazy _Senes_.

_Yale Banger_, Nov. 10, 1846.

A rare young blade is the gallant _Sene_.

_Ibid._, Nov. 1850.

SENIOR. One in the fourth year of his collegiate course at an American college; originally called _Senior Sophister_. Also one in the third year of his course at a theological seminary.--_Webster_.

See SOPHISTER.

SENIOR. Noting the fourth year of the collegiate course in American colleges, or the third year in theological seminaries.--_Webster_.

SENIOR BACHELOR. One who is in his third year after taking the degree of Bachelor of Arts. It is further explained by President Woolsey, in his Historical Discourse: "Bachelors were called Senior, Middle, or Junior Bachelors, according to the year since graduation and before taking the degree of Master."--p. 122.