need some advice....

[Senusret I]

Though in the previous sentence you stated you weren't worried about offending anyone.

[Sugar08]

I have to say, ealymc... using the word you did to prove your point about saying "frat" vs "fraternity" fits the definition of why you say the term is offensive.

...womanizing, stupid, classless, sexed up...

I'm not particularly offended, but I just thought I'd point that out.

[ealymc]

Duly noted. And reason enough to stop using that statement, Sugar. Thanks. But the point of what society associates with the word "frat" I still stand by.

[Senusret I]

Let's not generalize.... as we've stated on GC time and before, "frat" is not universally offensive and may not even be so among the IFC orgs on the original poster's campus. (Though I quite honestly didn't even read his post in entirety, lol)

[fantASTic]

Eh. I agree that calling a fraternity a frat is offensive..if the fraternity in question finds it offensive. If they themselves call it that, then it's okay for others. That goes for almost every word. If I call another female a bitch, I can't expect to be angry when others say that to me.

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by ealymc

I have seen far too many inappropriate posts on GC to be worrying about offending someone with use of a synonym. If you were offended, I'm sorry you took offense, but just move on to the next post, man...

Don't worry about me, I was just trying to give you helpful feedback about how you might consider representing yourself in the future. You're not doing yourself any favors currently.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by ealymc

Because you live in the "count"ry of the United States, right? No ma'am, this is your "cunt"ry, phonetically speaking, of course... It's all phonetics, my friend... That's why it makes sense.

No, it doesn't make sense because what I call my country has nothing to do with what I call a fraternity. The two have nothing to do with each other, it's just an excuse to be crass.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by PhiMuFriend

I cringe everytime I hear the word fraternity shortened to "Frat". It just seems so condescending to shorten it like that. Sort of like a "bad" word is being said.

Is it condescending when people shorten "dormitory" to "dorm." Is it disrespectful to a refrigerator to call it a "fridge"? (Yeah, I know, a fridge doesn't have feelings and isn't the same as a fraternity.) Is it disrespectful to call the United States of America "the States," or for a vet to talk about "'Nam"?

We do it English all the time, often to indicate affection or loyalty. Look through old (pre-1960s) fraternity writings and I'm betting you'll come across quite a few references to "the dear old frat" and the like.

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

I grew up with my brothers espousing the same philosophy, they hated hearing the word "frat" and they used the same analogy, but they would limit it to "Would you call your country a... ?" -- people are smart enough to connect the dots. You don't need to actually SAY that word and you certainly do not need to WRITE that word. It's truly offensive and it makes you look crass and unintelligent. Be more clever and trust your audience to get your drift.

If there were one thing I would ban from all Greek discourse, it would be this so-called analogy.

Of course you wouldn't call your country a ________, because the resulting word is universally (at least within the English-speaking universe) considered very, very obscene. I don't think I've ever heard anyone claim that "frat" is obscene. This is just a stupid, stupid analogy. It has nothing to do with why many consider "frat" offensive; it's just something "funny" (or shocking) some guy came up with along the line to try and explain why the word "frat" shouldn't be used.

Originally Posted by ealymc

The negative connotation that has become associated with "frat" due to society's misconception of Greek life. "Frat", in a lot of circles, conjures images of "drunks, womanizing, stupid, classless, sexed up, etc." Just something I was kind of trained to avoid - using frat - because of pop culture, basically.

This is the reason many avoid the word frat -- because of the "Animal House" connotations it carries with some people and in some circles.

We lose credibility if we say you shouldn't call your fraternity a "frat" because you wouldn't call your country . . . . We maintain credibility if we say you shouldn't call your fraternity a "frat" because "frat" may carry connotations that we do not think apply to us and do not want associated with us. It really is that simple.

[Sugar08]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

Let's not generalize.... as we've stated on GC time and before, "frat" is not universally offensive and may not even be so among the IFC orgs on the original poster's campus. (Though I quite honestly didn't even read his post in entirety, lol)

Who the heck did? The return button is our friend.

I was tempted to say that some members of the IFC are being a little sensitive about the word, but knowing the connotation changed my mind. I still think it's a harmless word, but who am I to tell anyone else how to feel?

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

We lose credibility if we say you shouldn't call your fraternity a "frat" because you wouldn't call your country . . . . We maintain credibility if we say you shouldn't call your fraternity a "frat" because "frat" may carry connotations that we do not think apply to us and do not want associated with us. It really is that simple.

Huzzah, MysticCat!

[ealymc]

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

Don't worry about me, I was just trying to give you helpful feedback about how you might consider representing yourself in the future. You're not doing yourself any favors currently.

Thanks for your concern. Honestly. (And Senusret will like this) But...

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation because your character is who you really are while your reputation is merely what others think of you."

It's a forum of free-speech. People are literally eaten alive on here for asking what to them may have been valid questions, when those that have been on here for years have seen those topics over and over. Yet I am catching so much BULL over the use of a single word. It wasn't pointed at anyone. It wasn't referring to anything in particular. It was a word. Gimme a break. It's not like a racial epithet or bigotries came out of my keyboard, folks. Seriously. You are giving the word more validity by continuing to bring it back up!

I know who I am. And with all due respect, since I don't actually know you personally, your opinion is of little to no value to me. Doing myself favors? I'm confused as to what that even means on an online forum...

But again. Your comment is duly noted. I will choose my words more wisely next time in sake of representing myself as more intelligent and less crass.

[Kevin]

The fact is, brothers ealymc and SnuKnight are dead-on as far as their advice goes regarding the word "frat." I think it depends on the campus, but many fraternity members for whatever reason are taught that the word is offensive and that they should be offended. The "country = cunt" analogy is not particularly illustrative for any valid reason, but fraternity members will often find the word "frat" as offensive as the word "cunt." For the purpose of conveying the emotion which fraternities want their pledges to understand should accompany the word "frat," I think the analogy works well.

Simply put, the advice offered is sound -- it's a bad idea to go through rush and use the word "frat." Ever. When your goal is to get a bid at your favorite house, you don't need to concern yourself with why they find something offensive -- you just need to concern yourself with the fact that you don't want to piss off even one member or you're probably not going to get a bid.

[Fez]

My advise to you is to play it cool. Don't set your sights on one fraternity, it is good to have other options and later on decide on those who gave you a bid.

Your sophomore status might affect you slightly depending on the fraternity. Just look into a good number of fraternities you are interested, including the one that your father was in. Later on decide on which bid you want to take.

Enthusiasm is good, but as someone mentioned earlier, it is similar to dating. And if your overenthusiastic, it might scare off some of the brothers.

Play it cool, get involved in various activities, get to know many girls, and re-rush next time.

[ealymc]

Way to get back on topic! Sorry about hijack, jtrain...