Say you’ve been busy all semester throwing a Frisbee and drinking juice out of a funnel, and now it’s finals week. How are you going to study? Just get yourself a koofer! These old tests, which some universities keep around in their libraries, can be great guides in prepping for a current test. Virginia Tech alums claim the term originated there in the early 1940s. In any case, many universities now have koofers, and many are available online at koofers.com. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Koofer”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, this is Amber from Connersville, Indiana.
Hello, Amber. Welcome to the show.
Hi, Amber.
Hi, Martha.
Hi, what’s on your mind?
Well, I have a question about a word that has been bugging me for probably a dozen years, and I was wondering if you guys could help me with it.
It’s about time you called.
It’s irregardless, right?
That’s right.
No, the word is a funny one. It’s Koofer, K-O-O-F-E-R.
And, Amber, how do you use this?
Well, I was sitting in my freshman class in veterinary school at Virginia Tech, and first day, and the professor is going over the course syllabus and the basic information, and they would throw things out. Like, you know, one professor would say, in this class, you can use KUFERS. And the next class, the professor would say, in this class, you cannot use KUFERS. Then use of KUFERS would be a violation of the student honor code.
What is it, some kind of cheating?
Well, what they ended up being, because I’m looking around like, what is this crazy word? I’ve never heard it before. Most of my fellow classmates had also gone to Virginia Tech for their undergrad, and so they were already hip to the lingo. They’re not perplexed by this word at all.
And what it means is copies of old tests that are available in the library for your study so that you can get a feel for how the professor writes questions for the course exam.
So it’s used as a noun. Have you ever heard it used as a verb?
Kind of as more an adjective, like some classes would be cooferable, and other classes were not cooferable or were uncooferable.
Well, what a coincidence. Apparently it originated at Virginia Tech.
Okay.
It’s college slang that was coined actually at the Bluefield College Extension, which I’m not sure if that is still around. But in the early 1940s, supposedly students coined that term because they had a coffer, a strong box of old tests and problems that people could distribute to their fellow students and let them prepare for tests that way.
So the idea was that a professor tends to be very predictable and do some version of the same test year after year.
Yeah.
So if somebody before you was kind enough to save it and you examined those tests, you had a really good chance of having seen the problems on test day, on exam day.
Yes, exactly.
And they were kept in a strong box that people called a coffer, and then eventually that became KUFER. And now, in fact, there’s a KUFERS.com, which is an online place where everybody shares tests and problems from all over the country.
I remember the sororities and fraternities at the University of Missouri did this as well. And sometimes they would have exams going back decades because some of the professors had been there for a very long time. And macroeconomics and microeconomics and so forth don’t change all that much at the beginning levels.
Huh. So it made its way all the way to Missouri.
And even though I did my undergrad…
Well, the idea made its way to Missouri, not the term necessarily. I think a variety of terms are used around the country. And I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a lot of email from people who don’t know KUFER but have another word for this thing.
Gotcha.
But it’s more widespread now because of the website that shares the test. And just because Virginia Tech tends to send quality people out in the world and they bring their lingo with them.
Right?
And you did, right?
I did, but I can’t say that it’s a word that I have much opportunity to use in my day-to-day speech now. I wouldn’t want to bring in my dog and have you tell me.
So Kufar comes from Kufar.
Awesome. That makes total sense now.
How sure are we of that, Martha?
That’s the myth and lore, right? That’s the story that Virginia Tech likes to tell. I don’t know that we have the full story on that, but that is what they proudly have proclaimed.
Okay.
Thanks, Amber.
All right, thank you, guys.
Take care. Bye-bye.
All right, bye-bye.
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