CUTwC, as befits a club with an eminent history and its Oxbridge setting,
sets great store by tradition. Typically, a tradition is something that
has happened (or been said) at least once. The collective history of the
Club means that newcomers may be bemused by frequent references to something
that a member who left a decade ago may once have said. This section is
intended to provide some enlightenment.
- One of the dates of the older parts of
St Botolph's Church on
Trumpington Street. Traditionally used to mean "a very long time ago",
or (in the form "since 1320") "forever". Particularly used whenever the
Committee behaves less than impeccably: they get called the worst
Committee since 1320.
- To down an entire drink (or the remains of one) in one go; also used
as an imperative when needing people to finish their drinks. Sometimes
a contest to see who can finish a drink first (as in the Bombardier
Slap-'Em Together Joogs). Pronounced "ahmeegoss", not "ahmeegoes".
- As you would know, if you were a real gentleman
- Porterhouse Blue-derived criticism of someone lacking some
vital piece of education or etiquette from their background. See
- See Bouffant Boy.
- Bouffant Boy
- Dr Matthew Fayers (former President), who has fluffy hair.
- Can you do that?
- The response to a much simpler solution replacing a complex one.
Coined by Droogs when trying to get chips with a meal by a sequence
of complex substitutions.
- Various drinking games have variants, described as the "inventer
convention". Many games have a Fayers convention, for example.
- Crawl Czar
- The person taking control (possibly by seizing ancient powers) of
one or many pub crawls.
- David Bradley-Williams (former President).
- Doccy F
- See BoBo.
- Doccy H
- See Harper, Phatter.
- Doccies S
- Dr Stewart Sage (former President), who has more than one doctorate.
- Doccy T
- Dr Rupert Thompson (former President).
- Doesn't it?
- Traditional response to any question of the form "where's the..."
(as in soap).
- Ed's Former Bird. Sarah Knight (former President) who was, at one point,
dating Dr Ed Wynn (former President).
- Factual incorrection
- Telling someone they're wrong, when in fact you are.
- Fat man
- Either a reprehensible individual (as in the Chris Goddard quote
"Matthew, you're just a fat man") or used as a term of grudging
admiration for, e.g., a successfully-executed difficult 'winks shot
or going down with four fives in BoS.
- (Dr) Fatty
- Nick Inglis, Ph.D.
- Fatty Smear
- Mangled version of Matthew Fayers (also consider "meaty farts").
- Phonetic spelling of "qwxcl".
- CUTwC consists largely of pedants. As such, the mis-use of "less"
has been loudly corrected to "fewer" so often that it's now traditional
to yell "fewer" even if "less" is correct.
- Person in charge of dictating fines, in those drinking games which
- Harper, Phatter
- Dr Alan Harper (former President), distinguishing him from Matt Harper
- a fellow winker of the same vintage, who was (at the time) thinner.
- Invented by Stew
- Traditionally, all drinking games were invented by Stew (after he once
claimed to have invented a game which he in fact did not).
- It's important to know what's going on at all times
- Doccies S's advice on tiddlywinks strategy. Seen as ironic.
- It's never A, unless it's A
- Strategy for playing pub trivia machines.
- It's pile play like this that makes winks such an interesting game
- Doccy T's commentary on a winks introductory video.
- Not A Real Gentleman. A "real gentleman" is someone who ends up in an
oxbridge college as a consequence of breeding rather than ability. "NARG"
is a term used to indicate someone applying brain-power or, in a game of
winks, undue competence.
- Used as a term of endearment to indicate that someone has done
something unduly harsh (usually, an opponent has played a competent
shot that has been highly detrimental to one's position).
- The National Handicapped Individual Pairs, an ETwA tournament.
Traditionaly given the "per" suffix in honour of "Nipper" - the
nickname of Jon "I've got potential"/"five are the hairs
on Nipper's head" Williams, President 1993-1994.
- Non adsumus nos oblectandi causa
- We aren't here to enjoy ourselves. (q.v.)
- Oxford University Tiddlywinks Society (when existing).
- Phillip Buckham-Bonnett (former President).
- Perhaps I, as...
- Pretentious stepping forward (pulling rank); became traditional
after Jon Mapley started an explanation on television with
"Perhaps I, as national champion..."
- Quarter Blue
- Awarded for participation in the Varsity Match against OUTS.
There is an accompanying scarf (and umbrella), which is - as
anyone who has seen the far-more-common half-blue can guess -
three-quarters white, one quarter Cambridge Blue.
- An error/to make an error, particularly embarrassingly so. Not
pronounced as it's spelt.
- Seal of approval
- Performed with an imitation of a sea lion clapping its flippers,
this is usually on of a sequency of bizarre impersionations
meant to indicate approval. Others include "big hand" (waving one
hand in the air) and "round of applause" (clapping while moving one's
hands in a circle), but continue to such classics as "raped ferret",
"chinchilla of doubt", "moose with a banana up its nose", "rabbit
on a motorbike", "parasites under the armpits", "sea anenome on the
- Seizing ancient powers
- Taking charge of a situation in the presence of dithering,
irrespective of one's authority so to do.
- The Society of Ex-Presidential Tiddlywinkers In Cambridge.
Formed to counter a move by the President of the time to
down-play the social (or at least, drinking) aspects of CUTwC.
- See Sick Boy.
- Sick Boy
- Dr Patrick Driscoll (former President).
- Scruffy Little Urchin. Nickname of Dr Chris Abram (former President).
- Somerset Invitation
- An invitation-only tournament hosted by Doccies S, initially in
The Somerset Wagon (a pub run by his parents) in Chilcompton. After
moving around for a few years (notably to Brussels and Norfolk), the
tournament recently returned to its original setting.
- (Drs) Superfatty
- Doctors Stewart Onan Sage.
- To my sure and certain knowledge...
- Traditionally used when stating something with
complete authority, when it might just be possible that you're wrong.
(E.g. "...nobody with the plebian name of John ever sat the throne of England".)
- To hit something. Apparently this term is not universal
- Violent drinking game.
- Viscount Goderich
- Derived from
a term used to describe an attempt to be clever in a drinking
game, followed by a moment of smugness during which one makes
an error. (For example: "boondock", "eight", "Viscount Goderich",
"boondock", [smugness prevents one from saying "eleven"].)
- Traditional slang for urination. Hence "wazitorium" for toilet,
- We aren't here to enjoy ourselves
- Traditional admonition during a pub crawl, when it is time to
finish drinks and move on to the next pub.
- Someone ruling themselves out of a drinking game, usually while
imbibing incurred fines. Often indicated by placing a hand on the
forehead, palm outwards. Note: the aim of drinking games is to
keep playing them (and victimise everyone else); the penalty for
playing badly should be spending time as whitebait, watching from
the side lines, not drinking beyond your capacity. There is no
shame in that, and much less than in drinking more than your
- Yellow manta ray
- Derived from
a term used to describe a trivial mistake - especially early on in
a drinking game, before it's supposed to have become challenging.