Part 6 (1/2)

Indulgent G.o.ds! exclaimed our _bloods_.

_The Crayon_, Yale Coll., 1823, p. 15.

BLOOD. At some of the Western colleges this word signifies excellent; as, a _blood_ recitation. A student who recites well is said to _make a blood_.

BLOODEE. In the Farmer's Weekly Museum, formerly printed at Walpole, N.H., appeared August 21, 1797, a poetic production, in which occurred these lines:--

Seniors about to take degrees, Not by their wits, but by _bloodees_.

In a note the word _bloodee_ was thus described: ”A kind of cudgel worn, or rather borne, by the bloods of a certain college in New England, 2 feet 5 inches in length, and 1-7/8 inch in diameter, with a huge piece of lead at one end, emblematical of its owner. A pretty prop for clumsy travellers on Parna.s.sus.”

b.l.o.o.d.y. Formerly a college term for daring, rowdy, impudent.

Arriving at Lord Bibo's study, They thought they'd be a little _b.l.o.o.d.y_; So, with a bold, presumptuous look, An honest pinch of snuff they took.

_Rebelliad_, p. 44.

They roar'd and bawl'd, and were so _b.l.o.o.d.y_, As to besiege Lord Bibo's study.

_Ibid._, p. 76.

BLOW. A merry frolic with drinking; a spree. A person intoxicated is said to be _blown_, and Mr. Halliwell, in his Dict. Arch. and Prov. Words, has _blowboll_, a drunkard.

This word was formerly used by students to designate their frolics and social gatherings; at present, it is not much heard, being supplanted by the more common words _spree_, _tight_, &c.

My fellow-students had been engaged at a _blow_ till the stagehorn had summoned them to depart.--_Harvard Register_, 1827-28, p. 172.

No soft adagio from the muse of _blows_, E'er roused indignant from serene repose.

_Ibid._, p. 233.

And, if no coming _blow_ his thoughts engage, Lights candle and cigar.

_Ibid._, p. 235.

The person who engages in a blow is also called a _blow_.

I could see, in the long vista of the past, the many hardened _blows_ who had rioted here around the festive board.--_Collegian_, p. 231.

BLUE. In several American colleges, a student who is very strict in observing the laws, and conscientious in performing his duties, is styled a _blue_. ”Our real delvers, midnight students,” says a correspondent from Williams College, ”are called _blue_.”

I wouldn't carry a novel into chapel to read, not out of any respect for some people's old-womanish twaddle about the sacredness of the place,--but because some of the _blues_ might see you.--_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XV. p. 81.

Each jolly soul of them, save the _blues_, Were doffing their coats, vests, pants, and shoes.

_Yale Gallinipper_, Nov. 1848.

None ever knew a sober ”_blue_”