Kansas City Journal

Slang of College Girls.
The "Crush,"
"Dead Squelch"
and Other Expressive Terms.

College girl slang is not often heard outside of college walls. To outsiders it is chiefly interesting because it gives glimpses of college life, says the New York Sun.

Take the word "prod," for example. A "prod" would scarcely be met with except in the college world, although prodigies might. It is always a question whether a girl who is called a "prod" receives the term in approbation or disgust. There are two sorts of "prods," one receiving the term from pure brilliancy in some particular line, the other for general studiousness. The latter are the most irritating, for they are always ready with answers in recitations, while the brilliant "prod" may be on the ordinary lane of intelligence when out of her particular sphere. She is a "prod" through no fault of her own. A distinctly woman's collegiate word is "crush," expressing a relationship between two girls hard to define. One girl, generally an underclassman, and usually a freshman, becomes much attached to another girl, ordinarily an upperclass girl. The younger girl is "crushed" on the other, sends her flowers, and tries in various ways to give expression to her admiration. The "crush" soon passes over, the admirer finding some flaw in her idol, or else, as is often the case, the "crush" at length loses its youthful sentimentality, and settles down into a good friendship.

If, however, before either of these states are reached the object of the "crush" gets weary of the devotion, she resorts to what in college parlance is known as "squelching," the highest form of which is a "d. s.," or "dead squelch." This method indeed has often to be employed toward freshmen, whether "crushed" or not, to teach them their proper place. There is an unwritten but well established decree that upper class girls shall always be held as superiors. At the first of the year, for instance, before the entering class is thoroughly at home, it would be a decided breach of etiquette for a freshman to ask a mighty senior or junior to dance. She must wait to be invited. But the freshmen -well, they don't understand all these important points, but a judicious use of the dead squelch will teach them a good deal.

In much the same category with slang are the abbreviations rife at college. Literature is always lit, psychology "psych," dictionary "dic." The abbreviation most in the minds of the girls at present is that dreaded monster, exams.

Volumes might be written concerning the blue state of the atmosphere during the time when everyone is looking forward to the exams. In the corridors may be heard such questions as "How many 'exams' have you got?" "Do you think we'll have one in lit?" then with gloomy foreboding, "Oh, I'm so afraid I'll flunk."

Then the synonyms for hard work come into play, grind, dig and bone.