Greetings all! After quite a long post yesterday on cellphones, I'll do a relatively short one about a well known tradition in Cambridge: pennying. While it is by a definition a drinking game, there are several variations of the game that persist in Cambridge, and instead of trying to define it in the general case, I'll define the specific scenarios that I have encountered so far:
1) One-penny
This is when you throw a one pence coin into someone's drink. If it happens, they have to finish their drink. The defense I know of so far is to make sure you have at least one finger touching your drink. However, in the spirit of the game, it is generally discouraged that you hold onto your drink forever. Note that you must toss a one pence coin (and nothing else!) into someone's drink. Otherwise, the toss is invalid, and you may have to actually finish your drink instead.
2) Five-penny
This is when you throw a five pence coin into someone's dessert. If it happens, you have to finish your dessert using only your face. It is popular form of pennying at formal dinners because everyone is wearing formal attire, and it can get quite messy as I found out myself! The defense I know of so far is that you have to have your spoon in your dessert. Like one-pennying, it must be a five pence coin and nothing else! On the other hand, keeping your spoon in your dessert does not seem to be as heavily discouraged though.
3) Engineer's penny
Good news, MIT! Cambridge values its engineers, so much so that they developed a special version of pennying in our honor! Engineer's pennying involves taking an Engineer's penny (a bent one pence coin) and tossing it into someone's bottle of alcohol that they have brought to a social gathering. If that happens, they must finish the whole bottle of alcohol they have. Similar to one-pennying, the only defense I know of is you hold onto your bottle forever, but it is similarly discouraged.
Outside of formal dinners, pennying at meals or social outings can happen sometimes without warning and is often welcomed and encouraged, especially when alcohol is around. However, during formal dinners, servers generally discourage this practice, and depending on how strick they are, will kick you out if you are caught (some are quite relaxed though). Thus, there is additional fun for most students to see if they can penny someone's drink or dessert without being seen by a server.
In addition, there are several other tips you should be aware of. Don't attempt to protect yourself by holding an empty glass or bottle. If you get pennied, the pennier can then fill your glass/bottle to the level he/she wants you to drink, which probably will be worse than if you still had a little left in your drink. Also, you cannot get revenge on someone who has just pennied you. You will have to wait until some time has elapsed before you can get them back. You also cannot penny someone multiple times, so if someone's glass or bottle has been pennied, it cannot be pennied again. It's kind of like the chicken pox. Once you get it, you're essentially immune from it for the rest of your life assuming a properly functioning immune system.
From the onset, this game, in particular the drinking versions, might seem a little unsettling, especially if you're not one to drink that much, which is the case for me (at least for the moment). Fortunately, students will understand if you don't feel comfortable consuming that much alcohol. So if you don't want to get caught in the game, you can either not order an alcoholic drink, or you can make it clear to whomever is playing that you are uncomfortable playing the game. You might also mention that you're from a country (e.g. US) where you could still be underage and hence have had very little exposure (and thus probably low tolerance) to alcohol. Remember, just because Cambridge has a significantly larger drinking culture, you are by no means required to participate in it.
To conclude, below is the five penny that was thrown in my dessert at our first "formal" dinner. Enjoy!
