2. To cause one to fail in reciting. Said of an instructor.
Fizzle him tenderly,
Bore him with care,
Fitted so slenderly,
Tutor, beware.
Yale Lit. Mag., Vol. XIII. p. 321.
FIZZLING. Reciting badly; the act of making a poor recitation.
Of this word, a writer jocosely remarks: "Fizzling is a somewhat free translation of an intricate sentence; proving a proposition in geometry from a wrong figure. Fizzling is caused sometimes by a too hasty perusal of the pony, and generally by a total loss of memory when called upon to recite."—Sophomore Independent, Union College, Nov. 1854.
Weather drizzling,
Freshmen fizzling.
Yale Lit. Mag., Vol. XV. p. 212.
FLAM. At the University of Vermont, in student phrase, to flam is to be attentive, at any time, to any lady or company of ladies. E.g. "He spends half his time flamming" i.e. in the society of the other sex.
FLASH-IN-THE-PAN. A student is said to make a flash-in-the-pan when he commences to recite brilliantly, and suddenly fails; the latter part of such a recitation is a FIZZLE. The metaphor is borrowed from a gun, which, after being primed, loaded, and ready to be discharged, flashes in the pan.
FLOOR. Among collegians, to answer such questions as may be propounded concerning a given subject.
Then Olmsted took hold, but he couldn't make it go,
For we floored the Bien. Examination.
Presentation Day Songs, Yale Coll., June 14, 1854.
To floor a paper, is to answer every question in it.—Bristed.