A Collection of College Words and Customs Part 69

RENOWN. German, _renommiren_, to hector, to bully. Among the students in German universities, to _renown_ is, in English popular phrase, "to cut a swell."--_Howitt_.

The spare hours of the forenoon and afternoon are spent in fencing, in _renowning_,--that is, in doing things-which make people stare at them, and in providing duels for the morrow.--_Russell's Tour in Germany_, Edinburgh ed., 1825, Vol.

II. pp. 156, 157.

We cannot be deaf to the testimony of respectable eyewitnesses, who, in proof of these defects, tell us ... of "_renowning_," or wild irregularities, in which "the spare hours" of the day are spent.--_D.A. White's Address before Soc. of the Alumni of Harv.

Univ._, Aug. 27, 1844, p. 24.

REPLICATOR. "The first discussions of the Society, called Forensic, were in writing, and conducted by only two members, styled the Respondent and the Opponent. Subsequently, a third was added, called a _Replicator_, who reviewed the arguments of the other two, and decided upon their comparative merits."--_Semi-centennial Anniversary of the Philomathean Society, Union Coll._, p. 9.

REPORT. A word much in use among the students of universities and colleges, in the common sense of _to inform against_, but usually spoken in reference to the Faculty.

Thanks to the friendly proctor who spared to _report_ me.

_Harvardiana_, Vol. III. p. 79.

If I hear again Of such fell outrage to the college laws, Of such loud tumult after eight o'clock, Thou'lt be _reported_ to the Faculty.--_Ibid._, p. 257.

RESIDENCE. At the English universities, to be "in residence" is to occupy rooms as a member of a college, either in the college itself, or in the town where the college is situated.

Trinity ... usually numbers four hundred undergraduates in _residence_.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p.

11.

At Oxford, an examination, not always a very easy one, must be pa.s.sed before the student can be admitted to _residence_.--_Westminster Rev._, Am. ed., Vol. x.x.xV. p. 232.

RESIDENT GRADUATE. In the United States, graduates who are desirous of pursuing their studies in a place where a college is situated, without joining any of its departments, can do so in the capacity of _residents_ or _resident graduates_. They are allowed to attend the public lectures given in the inst.i.tution, and enjoy the use of its library. Like other students, they give bonds for the payment of college dues.--_Coll. Laws_.

RESPONDENT. In the schools, one who maintains a thesis in reply, and whose province is to refute objections, or overthrow arguments.--_Watts_.

This word, with its companion, _affirmant_, was formerly used in American colleges, and was applied to those who engaged in the syllogistic discussions then incident to Commencement.

But the main exercises were disputations upon questions, wherein the _respondents_ first made their theses.--_Mather's Magnalia_, B. IV. p. 128.

The syllogistic disputes were held between an _affirmant_ and _respondent_, who stood in the side galleries of the church opposite to one another, and shot the weapons of their logic over the heads of the audience.--_Pres. Woolsey's Hist. Disc., Yale Coll._, p. 65.

In the public exercises at Commencement, I was somewhat remarked as a _respondent_.--_Life and Works of John Adams_, Vol. II. p. 3.

RESPONSION. In the University of Oxford, an examination about the middle of the college course, also called the _Little-go_.--_Lyell_.

See LITTLE-GO.

RETRO. Latin; literally, _back_. Among the students of the University of Cambridge, Eng., used to designate a _behind_-hand account. "A cook's bill of extraordinaries not settled by the Tutor."--_Grad. ad Cantab._

REVIEW. A second or repeated examination of a lesson, or the lesson itself thus re-examined.

He cannot get the "advance," forgets "the _review_."

_Childe Harvard_, p. 13.

RIDER. The meaning of this word, used at Cambridge, Eng., is given in the annexed sentence. "His ambition is generally limited to doing '_riders_,' which are a sort of scholia, or easy deductions from the book-work propositions, like a link between them and problems; indeed, the rider being, as its name imports, attached to a question, the question is not fully answered until the rider is answered also."--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed.

2d, p. 222.

ROLL A WHEEL. At the University of Vermont, in student parlance, to devise a scheme or lay a plot for an election or a college spree, is to _roll a wheel_. E.g. "John was always _rolling a big wheel_," i.e. incessantly concocting some plot.

ROOM. To occupy an apartment; to lodge; _an academic use of the word_.--_Webster_.

Inquire of any student at our colleges where Mr. B. lodges, and you will be told he _rooms_ in such a building, such a story, or up so many flights of stairs, No. --, to the right or left.

The Rowes, years ago, used to _room_ in Dartmouth Hall.--_The Dartmouth_, Vol. IV. p. 117.

_Rooming_ in college, it is convenient that they should have the more immediate oversight of the deportment of the students.--_Scenes and Characters in College_, p. 133.

Seven years ago, I _roomed_ in this room where we are now.--_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XII. p. 114.

When Christmas came again I came back to this room, but the man who _roomed_ here was frightened and ran away.--_Ibid._, Vol. XII.

p. 114.

Rent for these apartments is exacted from Soph.o.m.ores, 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, plat.i.tude. 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 versa_."

See BLUES.

ROWING. The making of loud and noisy disturbance; acting like a _rowdy_.