Gag,subs.1. (Christ’s Hospital).—Seequot.Gag-eater= a term of reproach.
1813.Lamb,Christ’s Hospital, inWorks, p. 324 (ed. 1852). L. has recorded the repugnance of the school toGAGS, or the fat of fresh beef boiled; and sets it down to some superstition.... AGAG-EATERin our time was equivalent to a ghoul, ... and held in equal estimation.
2. (Winchester: obsolete).—An exercise (said to have been invented by Dr. Gabell) which consists in writing Latin criticisms on some celebrated piece, in a book sent in about once a month. In the Parts below Sixth Book and Senior Part, theGAGSconsisted in historical analysis. [An abbreviation of “gathering.”]
c.1840.Mansfield,School-Life at Winchester College, p. 108. From time to time, also, they had to write ... an analysis of some historical work; these productions were calledGATHERINGS(orGAGS).
Gain.SeeElection.
Gaits(Geits,Gytes, orGites),subs.(Royal High School, Edin.).—The first, or lowest class.SeeCats.
Gallery,subs.(Winchester).—A Commoner bedroom. [From a tradition ofGALLERIESin Commoners.] HenceGALLERY NYMPH= a housemaid.
Gang,subs.(Felsted: obsolete).—A particular friend. From the ordinary meaning of the word, applied first to the two friends, then to each of them. Used only of “acute” friendship. Also asverb= to carry on such a friendship with another.
Garden, The(Stonyhurst).—The playgrounds, built on the site of part of the old garden, long kept this name. “The boys went to theGARDEN” = “into the playground”: obsolete.
Gater,subs.(Winchester: obsolete).—A plunge head foremost into aPOT(q.v.).
Gates,subs.(University).—The being forbidden to pass outside the gate of a college. Hence asverb= to confine wholly or during certain hours within the college gate for some infraction of discipline. ToBREAK GATES= to stay out of college after hours.Gate-bill(old) = the record of an undergraduate’s failure to be within the precincts of his college by a specified time at night.
1803.Gradus ad Cant., p. 128. To avoidGATE-BILLShe will be out at night as late as he pleases ... climb over the college wall, and fee his gyp well.
1835.The Snobiad(Whibley,Cap and Gown, p. 141). Two proctors kindly holding either arm Staunch the dark blood andGATEhim for the term.
1853.Bradley,Verdant Green,I.ch. xii. He won’t hurt you much, Giglamps!Gateand chapel you!
1861.Hughes,Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. xii. Now you’ll both beGATEDprobably, and the whole crew will be thrown out of gear.
1865.Cornhill Mag., p. 227. He is requested to confine himself to college after a specified hour, which is familiarly termed beingGATED.
1870.Morning Advertiser, May 23. The two least culpable of the party have beenGATED.
1881.Lang,Xxxii. Ballades, “Of Midsummer Term.” When freshmen are careless ofGATES.
To be at gates,verb. phr.(Winchester: obsolete).—To assemble in Seventh Chamber passage, preparatory to going Hills or Cathedral.
Gaudeamus,subs.(general).—A feast; a drinking bout; any sort of merry-making. [German students’, but now general. From the first word of the mediæval (students’) ditty.]
Gaudy(orGaudy-day),subs.(general).—A feast or entertainment: specifically, the annual dinner of the Fellows of a college in memory of founders or benefactors; or a festival of the Inns of Court. [Lat.gaudere= to rejoice.]
1540.Palsgrave,Acolastus[Halliwell]. We maye make our tryumphe, kepe ourGAUDYES, or let us sette the cocke on the hope, and make good chere within dores.Ibid., I have good cause to set the cocke on the hope, and makeGAUDYEchere.
1608.Shakspeare,Antony and Cleopatra, iii. 11. Come, Let’s have one otherGAUDYnight; call to me All my sad captains; fill our bowls; once more Let’s mock the midnight bell.
1636.Suckling,Goblins[Dodsley,Old Plays(Reed), x. 143]. A foolish utensil of state, Which, like old plate upon aGAUDYday, ’s brought forth to make a show, and that is all.
1724.E. Coles,Eng. Dict.Gaudy days, college or Inns of Court festivals.
1754.B. Martin,Eng. Dict., 2nd ed.Gaudies, double commons, such as they have onGAUDYor grandDAYSin colleges.
1760.Foote,Minor, Act i. Dine at twelve, and regale, upon aGAUDY DAY, with buns and beer at Islington.
1803.Gradus ad Cantab., p. 122. Cut lectures ... giveGAUDIESand spreads.
1820.Lamb,Elia(Oxford in the Vacation). Methought I a little grudged at the coalition of thebetter Judewith Simon—clubbing, as it were, their sanctities together, to make up one poorGAUDY-DAYbetween them.
1822.Nares,Glossary, s.v.Gaudy dayorNight. A time of festivity and rejoicing. The expression is yet fully retained in the University of Oxford.Blount, in hisGlossographia, speaks of a foolish derivation of the word from a judge Gaudy, said to have been the institutor of such days. Butsuchdays were held in all times, and did not want a judge to invent them.
1822.Scott,Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxiii. We had a carouse to your honour ... we fought, too, to finish off theGAUDY.
1878.Besant and Rice,By Celia’s Arbour, ch. xxxiii. Champagne ... goes equally well with a simple luncheon of cold chicken, and with the most elaborateGAUDY.
General’s-day(Stonyhurst).—SeeDay.
Gentlemen-Philosopher,subs.(Stonyhurst: obsolete).—SeePhilosopher.
Genuine,subs.(Winchester).—Praise. Also asverb= to praise. [It is suggested (butseequot.) that the derivation may be fromgenuina, the “jaw-tooth,” praise being nothing but “jaw”:cf.Parsius, i. 115.]
1891.Wrench,Winchester Word-Book, s.v.Genuine.... He was awfully quilled andGENUINEDmy task. Possibly from calling a thing genuine.Cf.to blackguard, to lord, &c. But fifty years ago it was asubs.only. [SeeAppendix.]
Gip(orGyp),subs.(Cambridge).—A college servant.
1891.Harry Fludyer at Cambridge, 8. MyGYPsaid he thought he knew some one who’d give me eighteen shillings for it.
Girdlestoneites(Charterhouse).—A boarding-house. [From a master’s name.]SeeOut-houses.
Glope,verb(Winchester: obsolete).—To spit.
Go.To go down,verb(University).—To leave school or college: by specialEXEAT(q.v.) or at vacation. WhenceTO BE SENT DOWN= to be under discipline; to be rusticated.
1863.H. Kingsley,Austin Elliot, i. 179. How dare you say “deuce” in my presence? You canGO DOWN, my Lord.
1886.Dickens,Dict. of Cambridge, 3. No undergraduate shouldGOdown without obtaining hisEXEAT.
1891.Harry Fludyer at Cambridge, 53. I’m thankful to say this Term’s nearly over now.... We shall be able toGOdown next week ... which is a blessing.
1898.Stonyhurst Mag., Dec., p. 149, “Life at Oxford.” You will think, then, that most of us do no work. Well, a good many do precious little. Still there is this check. All who do not pass their examinations within a certain time must “GO DOWN,”i.e.they must leave. It wholly depends upon ourselves, then, how much work we do; and it is naturally a much more difficult matter to “read” in this way than when one has regular schools and studies.
Goal,subs.(Winchester).—(1) At football the boy who stands at the centre of each end, acting as umpire; and (2) the score of three points made when the ball is kicked between his legs, or over his head, without his touching it.SeeSchitt.
c.1840.Mansfield,School-Life at Winchester College, p. 138. Midway between each of the two ends of the line was stationed another boy, as umpire (GOALhe was called), who stood with his legs wide apart, and a gown rolled up at each foot: if the ball was kicked directly over his head, or between his legs, without his touching it, it was aGOAL, and scored three for the party that kicked it.
God,subs.1. (Eton).—A Sixth Form boy.SeeAppendix.
1881.Pascoe,Life in our Public Schools. AGODat Eton is probably in a more exalted position, and receives more reverence than will ever afterwards fall to his lot.
2. (Westminster).—The juniors who, at theWestminster Play(q.v.), occupy a back gallery. A proposal was made in 1792 to exclude them from the performance on the grand nights, which, however, was successfully resisted. WhenceGOD-KEEPER= a Third Election boy, who acts as deputy monitor, and keeps the gallery deities in order.
1867.Collins,The Public Schools, p. 155. A rushing noise is heard as of a party of inebriated whirlwinds coming up College, and theDi Superi(in vulgar parlanceTHE GODS) make their appearance. Now is the time to see theGOD-KEEPERin his glory, in kid gloves, cane, and commanding voice: “Here, Jones, go up closer. Room for three or four more in that corner. Tumble-up, Davis.”
Going-out Saturday,subs.(Charterhouse).—SeeExeat2.
Gold Hatband,subs.(old University).—A nobleman undergraduate; aTUFT(q.v.).
1628.Earle,Microcosmography. His companion is ordinarily some stale fellow that has been notorious for an ingle toGOLD HATBANDS, whom hee admires at first, afterwards scornes.
1889.Gentleman’s Mag., June, p. 598. Noblemen at the universities, since known as “tufts,” because of the gold tuft or tassel to their cap, were then known asGOLD HATBANDS.
Golgotha,subs.(old University).—The Dons’ gallery at Cambridge; also a certain part of the theatre at Oxford. [That is, “the place of skulls” (cf.Luke xxiii. 33 and Matt. xxvii. 33); whence the pun, Dons being the heads of houses.]
1730.Jas. Miller,Humours of Oxford, Act ii., p. 23 (2nd ed.). Sirrah, I’ll have you put in the black-book, rusticated—expelled—I’ll have youcoram nobisatGOLGOTHA, where you’ll be bedevilled, Muck-worm, you will.
1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1791.G. Huddesford,Salmagundi(Note on, p. 150).Golgotha, “The place of a Skull,” a name ludicrously affixed to the Place in which the Heads of Colleges assemble.
1808.J. T. ConybeareinC. K. Sharp’sCorrespondence(1888), i. 324. The subject then of the ensuing section isOxford News... we will begin byGOLGOTHA.... Cole has already obtained the Headship of Exeter, and Mr. Griffiths ... is to have that of University.
Gomer,subs.1. (Winchester).—A large pewter dish used in College. [Probably from its holding ahomeroromerin measure:seequots.]
1610-31.Donne.Not satisfied with hisGOMERof manna.
d.1656.Hall,Satires, Bk. v. He that gave aGOMERto each.
1778.Inventory of Kitchen and Hall.Twenty-fourGOMERS(amongst dishes and brass pots).
2. A new hat: specifically, a beaver when first introduced: butseequot.,Peals, and Appendix.
1867.Collins,The Public Schools, 68. Top-boots are no longer considered, by young gentlemen of twelve, “your only wear” to go home in, although the term for them—GOMERS(i.e.go-homers)—still survives in the Winchester vocabulary.
Good-breakfast,subs.(Stonyhurst).—A breakfast given to thoseDistinguished(q.v.) every term: also calledDistinction-breakfast.Cf.DoandGood-supper.
Good-creatures,subs.(Charterhouse).—Meat, vegetables, and pudding. [From a quaint old-fashioned “Scholars’ grace”—“Lord, bless to us these thyGOOD-CREATURES,” &c.]
Good-day,subs.(Stonyhurst).—A free day given at the end of the school year to those distinguished in mathematics. There is also a “RhetoricGOOD DAY,” given to theRhetoricians(q.v.), and a “CertificateGOOD DAY,” given to candidates for the Higher Certificate Examination.
Good-Four-o’clock,subs.(Stonyhurst: obsolete).—A repast similar in character to aGood-supperand aGood-breakfast(both of which see).
Good-supper,subs.(Stonyhurst).—A supper given for a special reason:e.g.theChoir-supper(that given to members of the Choir); theActors’-supper(that given to the participants in Shrovetide-plays); theEleven-supper(to the Cricket eleven after an “out” match), &c.Cf.DoandGood-breakfast.
Goose-match,subs.(Harrow).—A cricket match played between the School Eleven and a team of Old Harrovians on Michaelmas Day, or as near to it as possible. The Eleven opposing the School are called “the geese.”SeeAppendix.
Gosh,subs.(Winchester).—To spit.
Gown,subs.1. (Winchester: obsolete).—Coarse brown paper.
2. (University).—The schools as distinguished from theTOWN(q.v.):e.g.TownandGown.
1847.Thackeray,Punch’s Prize Novelists, “Codlingsby,” p. 232. From the Addenbroke’s hospital to the Blenheim turnpike, all Cambridge was in an uproar—the College gates closed—the shops barricaded—the shop-boys away in support of their brother townsmen—the battle raged, and theGOWNhad the worst of the fight.
1853.Bradley,Verdant Green,II., ch. iii. WhenGOWNwas absent, Town was miserable.
1891.Pall Mall Gaz., 30th May, p. 4, c. 3. Town andGOWNjoined in harmony.
Gownboy,subs.(Charterhouse).—A scholar on the foundation: they wore at the Charterhouse black Eton jackets, black trousers, shoes calledGowsers(q.v.), and gowns. This distinctive garb was abolished in 1872.
Gownboy-arch(Charterhouse).—An arch near the east end of the chapel, formerly the doorway from Scholars’ Court into Gown-boys. The earliest Old Carthusian name inscribed on it bears date 1778.
Gownboy-cricket,subs.(Charterhouse).—Cricket in which there are twenty bowlers to one batsman, with no fielders.
Gownboys(Charterhouse).—A boarding-house. [Because on migration to Godalming in 1872 nearly all the oldGownboys(q.v.) were received there.]
Gowner,subs.(Winchester).—TheGoal(q.v.) at football stood with his legs stretched out, and a gown, rolled up into a ball, at each foot. When the ball was kicked over either of these gowns, without goal’s touching it, this counted two for the party who kicked it.—Mansfield(c.1840). AlsoseeGoalandSchitt. Now obsolete.
Gownsman(alsoGown),subs.(University).—A student.
1800.C. K. Sharpe, inCorrespondence(1888), i. 96. A battle between theGOWNSMENand townspeople ... in spite of the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors.
1850.F. E. Smedley,Frank Fairlegh, ch. xxv. The ancient town of Cambridge, no longer animated by the countless throngs ofGOWNSMEN, frowned in its unaccustomed solitude.
1853.Bradley,Verdant Green,III.By the time Mr. Bouncer finished these words, the coach appropriately drew up at the “Mitre,” and the passengers tumbled off amid a knot ofGOWNSMENcollected on the pavement to receive them.
1861.Hughes,Tom Brown at Oxford. The townsmen ... were met by theGOWNSMENwith settled steady pluck.
Gowsers,subs.(Charterhouse: obsolete).—Shoes.
Grammar,subs.1. (Stonyhurst).—The Lower Fourth Form.
2. (Harrow).—SeeUpper School.
Grand-matches,subs.(Stonyhurst).—The three final matches of theStonyhurst-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; toRECEIVE 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 beingSENT 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(orGreats),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-gois passed.
1861.Hughes,Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. x. Both small andGREATare 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 andGREAT-GO, He creditably pass’d.
1871.Morning Advertiser, April 28. Yes, Mr. Lowe has been plucked for hisGREAT GO.
1883.Echo, 3rd May, p. 2, c. 4. But few, indeed, are the men who have been in forGREATSduring the last twenty years, and who have not blessed Mr. Kitchin for his edition of theNovum Organum.
Grecian,subs.(Christ’s Hospital).—A senior boy.
1870.Blue Budget, March. We have the full sanction and approval of theGRECIANS, 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 asGRECIANS—a traditional title, the origin of which is unknown—to pursue more advanced studies and to enjoy certain privileges as to table. [SeeAppendix.]
Green.1. (Charterhouse).—The cricket-ground.SeeUnder-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’sClassical 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.” WhenceGREEN-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 whiteFlannels(q.v.) at cricket.
Greyhound,subs.(Cambridge: obsolete).—A member of Clare College; aCLARIAN(q.v.).
1889.Whibley,Cap and Gown, xxviii. The members of Clare ... were calledGRAYHOUNDS.
Grind,subs.(common).—(1) Study; reading for an examination. Also as averb. (2) A plodding student. (3) Athletic sports in general: specifically, a training run. Also asverb= 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 theGRIND, as he called it.Ibid., ch. vii. “The thing to find out,” said Tom meditatively, “is how long one ought toGRINDat a sentence without looking at the crib.”
1872.Chambers’s Jour., April. Joe Rullock, the mighty gymnasiarch, the hero of a hundredGRINDS, 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 theGRINDit 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. AlsoTHE FIVE MILES GRIND.
’Varsity Grind(Oxford).—A steeplechase held at Stratton Audley.
Grind-days,subs.(Loretto).—TheGRIND-DAYSoccur 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; aCOACH(q.v.).
1812. MissEdgeworth,Patronage, ch. iii. Put him into the hands of a cleverGRINDERor 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 aGRINDER, he routs out his old note-books from the bottom of his box and commences to read.
1841.A. Smith, “The London Medical Student” inPunch, i. p. 229. G was aGRINDER, who sharpen’d the fools.
1849.Thackeray,Pendennis, ch. v. She sent me down here with aGRINDER. She wants me to cultivate my neglected genius.
Grinding-mill,subs.(general).—The house of a tutor orCOACH(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 7P.M.to 7.45P.M.on Sundays, inCloister-time(q.v.) whenSixth Book(q.v.) andSenior 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; toSWOT(q.v.).
Grovel,subs.(Sherborne).—A scrummage at football.
Grubber,subs.(general).—A tuck-shop.SeeLamb’s-tails,Round Othellos,Kill-me-quicks, andPicaninnies.
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.Seequot., andSqueaky.
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 sangGRUFF.
Guarder,subs.(Stonyhurst).—A goal-keeper: at football. WhenceSECOND-GUARDER= the “full-back” of Association Football; andTHIRD-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 asverb(Cambridge) = to place in theGULF;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 theGULF, 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 wasGULFED.
1853.Bradley,Verdant Green, pt.III.p. 89. I am not going to let themGULPHme a second time.
1863.H. Kingsley,Austin Elliot, p. 123. The good Professor scolded, predicted that they would all be eitherGULFEDor ploughed.
1865.Sporting Gaz., April 1. A man who wasGULFEDfor mathematical honours was certainly, in olden time, unable to enter for the classical examination; but though the arrangement is altered, the term isnotobsolete. A man who isGULFEDis 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 wasGULFED.
1896.Tonbridgian, No. 339, 1124. Poole hopes to get a Third in Honour Mods., and Law hopes to escape aGULFnext 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 arefresh, take care to avoid theGULLS.” “I never understood thatGULLSwere 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(orGip),subs.(Cambridge).—A college servant. At Oxford, a scout; at Dublin, a skip. [Etymology doubtful: according toSat. 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 aJIP.]
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 hisGYPwell.
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 nameGYP, from his supposed moral affinity to a vulture (γυψ). The same is in Dublin denominated aSkip, 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 theGYPto tell you the way.
1850.Smedley,Frank Fairleigh, p. 254. Fellow you call theGYPwanted 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 strongestGYPSin the college).
Gyte,subs.(Royal High School, Edin.).—A first year’s student.