From this meaning, the transfer is, by analogy, very easy and natural, and the application very correct, to a poor recitation.
SMALL-COLLEGE. The name by which an inferior college in the
English universities is known.
A "Small-College" man was Senior Wrangler.—Bristed's Five
Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 61.
SMALL-COLLEGER. A member of a Small-College.
The two Latin prizes and the English poem [were carried off] by a Small-Colleger.—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 113.
The idea of a Small-Colleger beating all Trinity was deemed preposterous.—Ibid., p. 127.
SMALLS, or SMALL-GO. At the University of Oxford, an examination in the second year. See LITTLE-GO; PREVIOUS EXAMINATION.
At the Smalls, as the previous Examination is here called, each examiner sends in his Greek and Latin book.—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 139.
It follows that the Smalls is a more formidable examination than the Little-Go.—Ibid., p. 139.
SMASH. At the Wesleyan University, a total failure in reciting is called a smash.