A Collection of College Words and Customs Part 80

See BALBUS.

SPIRT. Among the students at the University of Cambridge, Eng., an extraordinary effort of mind or body for a short time. A boat's crew _make a spirt_, when they pull fifty yards with all the strength they have left. A reading-man _makes_ _a spirt_ when he crams twelve hours daily the week before examination.--_Bristed_.

As my ... health was decidedly improving, I now attempted a "_spirt_," or what was one for me.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 223.

My amateur Mathematical coach, who was now making his last _spirt_ for a Fellows.h.i.+p, used to accompany me.--_Ibid._, p. 288.

He reads nine hours a day on a "_spirt_" the fortnight before examination.--_Ibid._, p. 327.

SPIRTING. Making an extraordinary effort of mind or body for a short time.--_Bristed_.

Ants, bees, boat-crews _spirting_ at the Willows,... are but faint types of their activity.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 224.

SPLURGE. In many colleges, when one is either dashy, or dressed more than ordinarily, he is said to _cut a splurge_. A showy recitation is often called by the same name. In his Dictionary of Americanisms, Mr. Bartlett defines it, "a great effort, a demonstration," which is the signification in which this word is generally used.

SPLURGY. Showy; of greater surface than depth. Applied to a lesson which is well rehea.r.s.ed but little appreciated. Also to literary efforts of a certain nature, to character, persons, &c.

They even p.r.o.nounce his speeches _splurgy_.--_Yale Tomahawk_, May, 1852.

SPOON. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., the last of each cla.s.s of the honors is humorously denominated _The Spoon_. Thus, the last Wrangler is called the Golden Spoon; the last Senior Optime, the Silver Spoon; and the last Junior Optime, the Wooden Spoon. The Wooden Spoon, however, is _par excellence_, "The Spoon."--_Gradus ad Cantab._

See WOODEN SPOON.

SPOON, SPOONY, SPOONEY. A man who has been drinking till he becomes disgusting by his very ridiculous behavior, is said to be _spoony_ drunk; and hence it is usual to call a very prating, shallow fellow a rank _spoon_.--_Grose_.

Mr. Bartlett, in his Dictionary of Americanisms, says:--"We use the word only in the latter sense. The Hon. Mr. Preston, in his remarks on the Mexican war, thus quotes from Tom Crib's remonstrance against the meanness of a transaction, similar to our cries for more vigorous blows on Mexico when she is prostrate:

"'Look down upon Ben,--see him, _dunghill_ all o'er, Insult the fallen foe that can harm him no more.

Out, cowardly _spooney_! Again and again, By the fist of my father, I blush for thee, Ben.'

"Ay, you will see all the _spooneys_ that ran, like so many _dunghill_ champions, from 54 40, stand by the President for the vigorous prosecution of the war upon the body of a prostrate foe."

--_N.Y. Tribune_, 1847.

Now that year it so happened that the spoon was no _spooney_.--_Alma Mater_, Vol. I. p. 218.

Not a few of this party were deluded into a belief, that all studious and quiet men were slow, all men of proper self-respect exclusives, and all men of courtesy and good-breeding _spoonies_.

--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 118.

Suppose that rustication was the fate of a few others of our acquaintance, whom you cannot call slow, or _spoonies_ either, would it be deemed no disgrace by them?--_Ibid._, p. 196.

When _spoonys_ on two knees, implore the aid of sorcery, To suit their wicked purposes they quickly put the laws awry.

_Rejected Addresses_, Am. ed., p. 154.

They belong to the cla.s.s of elderly "_spoons_," with some few exceptions, and are nettled that the world should not go at their rate of progression.--_Boston Daily Times_, May 8, 1851.

SPOONY, SPOONEY. Like a _spoon_; possessing the qualities of a silly or stupid fellow.

I shall escape from this beautiful critter, for I'm gettin'

_spooney_, and shall talk silly presently.--_Sam Slick_.

Both the adjective and the noun _spooney_ are in constant and frequent use at some of the American colleges, and are generally applied to one who is disliked either for his bad qualities or for his ill-breeding, usually accompanied with the idea of weakness.

He sprees, is caught, rusticates, returns next year, mingles with feminines, and is consequently degraded into the _spooney_ Junior.

_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XV. p. 208.

A "bowl" was the happy conveyance. Perhaps this was chosen because the voyagers were _spooney_.--_Yale Banger_, Nov. 1849.

Sp.o.o.pS, Sp.o.o.pSY. At Harvard College, a weak, silly fellow, or one who is disliked on account of his foolish actions, is called a _sp.o.o.ps_, or _sp.o.o.psy_. The meaning is nearly the same as that of _spoony_.

Sp.o.o.pSY. Foolish; silly. Applied either to a person or thing.

Seniors always try to be dignified. The term "_sp.o.o.psey_" in its widest signification applies admirably to them.--_Yale Tomahawk_, May, 1852.

SPORT. To exhibit or bring out in public; as, to _sport_ a new equipage.--_Grose_.

This word was in great vogue in England in the year 1783 and 1784; but is now sacred to men of _fas.h.i.+on_, both in England and America.

With regard to the word _sport_, they [the Cantabrigians]

_sported_ knowing, and they _sported_ ignorant,--they _sported_ an aegrotat, and they _sported_ a new coat,--they _sported_ an Exeat, they _sported_ a Dormiat, &c.--_Gent. Mag._, 1794, p. 1085.

I'm going to serve my country, And _sport_ a pretty wife.

_Presentation Day Songs_, June 14, 1854, Yale Coll.

To _sport oak_, or a door, is to fasten a door for safety or convenience.

If you call on a man and his door is _sported_, signifying that he is out or busy, it is customary to pop your card through the little slit made for that purpose.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 336.

Some few constantly turn the keys of their churlish doors, and others, from time to time, "_sport oak_."--_Harv. Mag._, Vol. I.

p. 268.

SPORTING-DOOR. At the English universities, the name given to the outer door of a student's room, which can be _sported_ or fastened to prevent intrusion.

Their impregnable _sporting-doors_, that defy alike the hostile dun and the too friendly "fast man."--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 3.

SPREAD. A feast of a more humble description than a GAUDY. Used at Cambridge, England.

This puts him in high spirits again, and he gives a large _spread_, and gets drunk on the strength of it.--_Gradus ad Cantab._, p. 129.