*Grand-matches*, _subs._ (Stonyhurst).—The three final matches
of the STONYHURST-FOOTBALL (_q.v._) season, played always on
the Thursday before Shrove-tide, and on the following Monday
and Tuesday. These days are school holidays, and in the
evenings the great plays of the year are given.
*Grass*, _subs._ (Royal Military Academy).—Vegetables.
TO BE SENT TO GRASS, _verb. phr._ (University).—To be
rusticated; to RECEIVE A TRAVELLING SCHOLARSHIP (_q.v._).
1794. _Gent. Mag._, p. 1085. And was very near rustication [at
Cambridge] merely for kicking up a row after a beakering party. “Soho,
Jack!” briskly rejoined another, “almost presented with a travelling
fellowship? very nigh being SENT TO GRASS, hey?”
*Greaser*, _subs._ 1. (Durham: obsolete).—A cad.
2. (Winchester: obsolete).—A mode of torture performed by
rubbing a boy’s head hard with the knuckles.—MANSFIELD (_c._
1840).
*Great-go* (or *Greats*), _subs._ (Cambridge).—The final
examination for the B.A. degree: _cf._ LITTLE-GO. At Oxford,
GREATER.
1841. _Prince of the New-made Baccalere, Oxford._ GREAT-GO is passed.
1861. HUGHES, _Tom Brown at Oxford_, ch. x. Both small and GREAT are
sufficiently distant to be altogether ignored, if we are that way
inclined.
1856-7. THACKERAY, _King of Brentford’s Test._, st. 7. At college,
though not fast, Yet his little-go and GREAT-GO, He creditably pass’d.
1871. _Morning Advertiser_, April 28. Yes, Mr. Lowe has been plucked
for his GREAT GO.
1883. _Echo_, 3rd May, p. 2, c. 4. But few, indeed, are the men who
have been in for GREATS during the last twenty years, and who have not
blessed Mr. Kitchin for his edition of the _Novum Organum_.
*Grecian*, _subs._ (Christ’s Hospital).—A senior boy.
1870. _Blue Budget_, March. We have the full sanction and approval of
the GRECIANS, and some of them intend even to contribute articles
themselves.
1871. _The Blue_, Aug. Boys are taken at the age of seven years and
remain till they are sixteen.... If at their sixteenth year they have
shown remarkable aptitude, they are allowed to remain longer, and as
GRECIANS—a traditional title, the origin of which is unknown—to pursue
more advanced studies and to enjoy certain privileges as to table.
[_See_ Appendix.]
*Green.* 1. (Charterhouse).—The cricket-ground. _See_
UNDER-GREEN.
2. (Felsted: obsolete).—A Post-Office Order. [From the
colour.]
*Green-back*, _subs._ (University).—One of Todhunter’s series of
mathematical text-books. [Because bound in green cloth.
_Cf._ BLUE-RUIN = Bohn’s _Classical Series_.]
*Green Book, The* (Charterhouse).—A record of the date of
entering and leaving the school: this has been somewhat
loosely kept, and gaps are conspicuous.
*Green-room Boys*, _subs. phr._ (Stonyhurst).—Boys chosen to be
the stage-manager’s assistants at the Shrove-tide plays.
*Greens, The* (Stonyhurst: obsolete).—Two large grass plots, or
lawns and shrubberies, on the south front. A cricket-ball
hit full pitch into either of these from the opposite end of
the playground was known as “A Greener.” Whence GREEN-BOYS =
boys who used to look after the “GREENS.”
*Greeze*, _subs._ (Westminster).—A crowd.
*Greyers*, _subs._ (Harrow).—Grey flannel trousers: worn by all
the school not entitled to white FLANNELS (_q.v._) at
cricket.
*Greyhound*, _subs._ (Cambridge: obsolete).—A member of Clare
College; a CLARIAN (_q.v._).
1889. WHIBLEY, _Cap and Gown_, xxviii. The members of Clare ... were
called GRAYHOUNDS.
*Grind*, _subs._ (common).—(1) Study; reading for an
examination. Also as a _verb_. (2) A plodding student. (3)
Athletic sports in general: specifically, a training run.
Also as _verb_ = to teach; to instruct; to coach.
1856. HUGHES, _Tom Brown’s School-days_, pt. II. ch. v. “Come along,
boys,” cries East, always ready to leave the GRIND, as he called it.
_Ibid._, ch. vii. “The thing to find out,” said Tom meditatively, “is
how long one ought to GRIND at a sentence without looking at the
crib.”
1872. _Chambers’s Jour._, April. Joe Rullock, the mighty gymnasiarch,
the hero of a hundred GRINDS, the unwearied haunter of the palæstra,
could never give the lie to his whole past life, and deny his own
gymnastics.
1887. _Chambers’s Jour._, 14th May, p. 310. Smalls made just such a
goal as was required, and the GRIND it entailed was frequently of no
slight profit to him.
THE GRIND, _subs._ (Cambridge).—The ferry-boat at
Chesterton. (Oxford) A diversion popular among the less
athletic tutors and undergraduates, which consists in
walking by the Banbury Road to the 2-1/2 mile stone,
crossing to the Woodstock Road, which is here only a quarter
of a mile distant, and so returning to Oxford, occasionally
varying the proceeding by reversing the order of the walk.
It is, however, probable that the introduction of golf has
dealt a severe blow at the popularity of this innocent
amusement. Also THE FIVE MILES GRIND.
’VARSITY GRIND (Oxford).—A steeplechase held at Stratton
Audley.
*Grind-days*, _subs._ (Loretto).—The GRIND-DAYS occur twice a
year: in October and March. Privileged boys, school
officers, Sixth and Fifth, and probably Upper Fifth, go by
train to various places, such as Peebles, Pomathorn, &c.,
and walk, perhaps about twenty miles, to some other place,
where they dine, returning by train. Some of the rest cross
the Pentlands, and the Juniors go up the highest Pentland.
*Grinder*, _subs._ (general).—A private tutor; a COACH (_q.v._).
1812. Miss EDGEWORTH, _Patronage_, ch. iii. Put him into the hands of
a clever GRINDER or crammer, and they would soon cram the necessary
portion of Latin and Greek into him.
1841. _Punch_, vol. i. p. 201. Then contriving to accumulate five
guineas to pay a GRINDER, he routs out his old note-books from the
bottom of his box and commences to read.
1841. A. SMITH, “The London Medical Student” in _Punch_, i. p. 229. G
was a GRINDER, who sharpen’d the fools.
1849. THACKERAY, _Pendennis_, ch. v. She sent me down here with a
GRINDER. She wants me to cultivate my neglected genius.
*Grinding-mill*, _subs._ (general).—The house of a tutor
or COACH (_q.v._), where students are prepared for an
examination.
*Groats.* TO SAVE ONE’S GROATS, _verb. phr._ (old
University).—To come off handsomely. [At the Universities
nine groats are deposited in the hands of an academic
officer by every person standing for a degree, which, if the
depositor obtains, with honour, are returned to him.—GROSE.]
*Grotius-time*, _subs._ (Winchester).—From 7 P.M. to 7.45 P.M.
on Sundays, in CLOISTER-TIME (_q.v._) when SIXTH BOOK
(_q.v._) and SENIOR PART (_q.v._) went into school to
translate the work of that author.—MANSFIELD (_c._ 1840).
Now obsolete.
*Groute*, _verb_ (Marlborough and Cheltenham).—To work or study
hard; to SWOT (_q.v._).
*Grovel*, _subs._ (Sherborne).—A scrummage at football.
*Grubber*, _subs._ (general).—A tuck-shop. _See_ LAMB’S-TAILS,
ROUND OTHELLOS, KILL-ME-QUICKS, and PICANINNIES.
1899. _Public School Mag._, Dec., p. 441. The shop is privately
managed by Mr. Kimmins, of High Street, Tonbridge [and] is known as
“GRUBBER.”
*Grubby*, _subs._ (Royal High School, Edin.).—The luncheon room.
*Gruff*, _adj._ (Christ’s Hospital).—Low-pitched: of the voice.
_See_ quot., and SQUEAKY.
_c._ 1844. _Reminis. of Christ’s Hospital_ [_The Blue_, Aug. 1874].
The voices, in our own peculiar phraseology, being divided into two
classes—those who sang “squeaky,” and those who sang GRUFF.
*Guarder*, _subs._ (Stonyhurst).—A goal-keeper: at football.
Whence SECOND-GUARDER = the “full-back” of Association
Football; and THIRD-GUARDER = the “halfback” of Association
Football.
*Gulf*, _subs._ (Cambridge).—The bottom of a list of “passes,”
with the names of those who only just succeed in getting
their degree. At Oxford a man who, going in for honours,
only gets a pass. Hence as _verb_ (Cambridge) = to place in
the GULF; TO BE GULFED = to be on such a list. [Men so
placed were not eligible for the Classical Tripos.]
1852. BRISTED, _Five Tears in an English University_, p. 205. Some ten
or fifteen men just on the line, not bad enough to be plucked, or good
enough to be placed, are put into the GULF, as it is popularly called
(the examiners’ phrase is “degrees allowed”), and have their degrees
given them, but are not printed in the calendar. _Ibid._, 297. I
discovered that my name was nowhere to be found—that I was GULFED.
1853. BRADLEY, _Verdant Green_, pt. III. p. 89. I am not going to let
them GULPH me a second time.
1863. H. KINGSLEY, AUSTIN ELLIOT, p. 123. The good Professor scolded,
predicted that they would all be either GULFED or ploughed.
1865. _Sporting Gaz._, April 1. A man who was _GULFED_ for
mathematical honours was certainly, in olden time, unable to enter for
the classical examination; but though the arrangement is altered, the
term is _not_ obsolete. A man who is GULFED is considered to know
enough mathematics for an ordinary degree, but not enough to be
allowed his degree in mathematics only; he is consequently obliged to
pass in all the ordinary subjects (except mathematics) for the “poll,”
before taking his degree.
1876. TREVELYAN, LIFE OF MACAULAY (1884), ch. ii. p. 61. When the
Tripos of 1822 made its appearance, his name did not grace the list.
In short ... Macaulay was GULFED.
1896. _Tonbridgian_, No. 339, 1124. Poole hopes to get a Third in
Honour Mods., and Law hopes to escape a GULF next year in the same.
*Gull*, _subs._ (Oxford: obsolete).—A swindler; a trickster.
_Cf._ “GULL-CATCHER,” of which it is probably an
abbreviation.
1825. _The English Spy_, v. i. p. 161. “You’ll excuse me, sir, but as
you are _fresh_, take care to avoid the GULLS.” “I never understood
that GULLS were birds of prey,” said I. “Only in Oxford, sir, and
here, I assure you, they bite like hawks.”
*Gutter*, _subs._ (Tonbridge).—A scrummage at Rugby football:
now nearly obsolete. [Properly the space between the teams
in the scrummage.]
_Verb_ (Winchester).—To fall in the water flat on the
stomach.
*Gymmy*, _subs._ (Manchester Grammar).—The gymnasium.
*Gyp* (or *Gip*), _subs._ (Cambridge).—A college servant. At
Oxford, a scout; at Dublin, a skip. [Etymology doubtful:
according to _Sat. Rev._ an abbreviation of Gipsy Joe:
according to Cambridge undergraduates, from the Greek γυψ
(GUPS) = a vulture; from the creature’s rapacity.]
1794. _Gent. Mag._, p. 1085. [A Cambridge college servant is called a
JIP.]
1803. _Gradus ad Cantab._, 128. To avoid gate-bills he will be out at
night as late as he pleases, ... climb over the college wall, and fee
his GYP well.
1842. _Tait’s Mag._, Oct., “Reminiscences of Coll. Life.” There is
attached to colleges and halls a person more useful than ornamental,
and better known than paid, whom Oxonians name GYP, from his supposed
moral affinity to a vulture (γυψ). The same is in Dublin denominated a
_Skip_, because of the activity which is an indispensable item in his
qualifications.
1849. C. KINGSLEY, _Alton Locke_, ch. xii. I’ll send you in luncheon
as I go through the butteries; then, perhaps, you’d like to come down
and see the race. Ask the GYP to tell you the way.
1850. SMEDLEY, _Frank Fairleigh_, p. 254. Fellow you call the GYP
wanted to make me believe you were out—thought I looked too like a
governor to be let in, I suppose.
1882. F. ANSTEY, _Vice Versâ_, ch. v. Who should we see coming
straight down on us but a Proctor with his bull-dogs (not dogs, you
know, but the strongest GYPS in the college).
*Gyte*, _subs._ (Royal High School, Edin.).—A first year’s
student.
*Habit*, _subs._ (old University).—See quot.
1803. _Gradus ad Cantabrigiam._ HABIT. College HABIT, College dress,
called of old, livery: the dress of the Master, Fellows, and Scholars.
*Hades*, _subs._ (The Leys).—A W.C. _Cf._ STYX.
*Haggory*, _subs._ (Stonyhurst).—One of the gardens in the
_Higher Line_ (_q.v._) playground, which the Irish boys in
the early years of the century turned into a debating-place,
to promote the views of O’Connell and his party. [A
corruption of ἁγορά.]
*Hairy*, _adj._ (Oxford).—Difficult.
_d._ 1861. ARTHUR CLOUGH, _Long Vacation Pastoral_. Three weeks hence
we return to the shop and the wash-hand-stand-bason, Three weeks hence
unbury Thicksides and HAIRY Aldrich.
1864. _The Press_, Nov. 12. HAIRY for difficult is a characteristic
epithet.
*Half-faggot*, _subs._ (Winchester).—_See_ quot.
1881. _Felstedian_, Nov., p. 75, “A Day’s Fagging at Winchester.” At
6.15, when the first bell for chapel rings, I go round and wake up
everybody; as the præfects like hot water for washing, I make up a
fire, and put on the boilers; in other words, throw a bundle of sticks
called a “HALF-FAGGOT” on the old-fashioned “dogs,” or uprights, which
form the only fireplaces in chambers, coal not being in use.
*Hall*, _subs._ 1. (Oxford).—Dinner. Also as _verb_ = to dine.
[Taken in College Hall.]
1891. _Harry Fludyer at Cambridge_, 55. A lot of Freshmen got together
after HALL (it was a Saint’s day, and they’d been drinking audit) and
went and made hay in Marling’s rooms.