the.com/tripos
cambridge's word for final exams, because a stool once had three legs and academia never let it go.
means the final honors examination for a bachelor's degree at cambridge university, split by subject into parts i, ii, and sometimes iii.
from from the three-legged stool a graduate sat on to dispute theses aloud in the 18th century; the questioner became known as mr tripos, and the name stuck to the exam long after the stool vanished.
wrangler ranktop mathematics tripos scorer earns the title senior wrangler
once comictripos verses were satirical poems recited during the ceremony
no averagesresults ranked by order of merit, not simple grades
for instance
mathematical tripos — produced newton-era wranglers and later stephen hawking, 1966
natural sciences tripos — darwin sat a version of this at christ's college, 1831
classical tripos — oldest humanities tripos, formalized in 1822