Been there done that. Here is the thread from last year.

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ght=thetartots

AMEN.

As nice as some of the terms are that have been created, having different things for every group is impractical. Yeah, ASA can decide that we want to call our pledges pearls, and I do like it as these terms go, and there is a great meaning and good reasoning behind it, but the thing is, why should we obligate anyone else to have to know that? Can you imagine trying to use the "correct" terms for every group at a 16-or 17-sorority campus? It's ridiculous. Sigma Chi (to use the first example that comes to my mind) has some terms for their chapter offices that aren't "normal" but I have never heard any of them get offended that I called them the "president" instead of the "consul." "Babies" more than likely sprang up as a generic term.

Exactly. You're not a member until you're initiated. If you were a member before that, how could you quit pledging one group and pledge another a year later?

It was the 1990s and people were effing stupid. They thought it would eradicate hazing and negative Greek image. You see how well that worked. The stupidest thing is that none of the terms are grammatically correct. Women who go through formal rush (particularly at a school where just getting ANY bid is difficult) are not being "recruited" (ask anyone who's dealt with a military recruiter). Every woman on a campus who isn't Greek is a "potential new member" - not just those who are rushing.

The fact that 18 year olds who have never been cognizant when the "old" terms were used, still use them, just shows that this attempt has been a spectacular failure, and everyone just needs to go back to using "rush" and "pledge" and get over themselves.

My girls would get a phone call over this.

I WOULD BE LIVID as an advisor, and insulted as a new member.

Yep, the change happened when I was an active as well. Annoying to be scolded for saying "pledges."


I think calling our new girls "Stars/Little Stars" is a great idea, I've talked about it before with others.

I bugs me, but not to the point that I'm super passionate about it. The skit that hooked me during my own rush was a Theta "Cats" skit with songs. Hearing my future mentor sing "Memories" made me nearly cry! We never had a huge cat connection other than that though.

I would also be weirded out by baby squirrels.

I will take the finger over the mouth over "Theta Baby" any day of the week. It's meant to be funny.

Doesn't bother me either. I'm fine with this hand sign, the 2-sister arm sign, and the single person crossed arm sign.

Agreed

I agree.

You are so right. My daughter and her whole chapter, as well as pretty much the entire Greek community at her school, say "rush" and "pledge". Just give it up already. It wasn't broke!

I'm sure the girl that tweeted about the litter box has already been counseled.

Criticizing someone for their unsophisticated language in something called a "tweet" = irony.

(Not directed at you in particular MP, just that the terms associated with Twittter have not gotten any less silly to me.)

This really made me laugh because it is all so true! 33girl, I wish there were an NPC newspaper or some such venue for you to write an op-ed on this topic.

I will have to look and see what Gamma Phi chapters are calling their pledges - "new moons"? Hmmmmm . . . count me in for Team Pledge.

I thought of this thread just now...Chi Omega posted some Bid Day pictures from various chapters on FB, and one of them had a big banner that had a picture of the Olympic ring logo, and said "You're Gold to Us, Baby Hooties."

Trust me, that does not mean that HQ likes the term.

But if it's on HQ's page, I guarantee you that lots of people would see that as implicit approval, and not without reason.

So it sounds like the national sorority offices don't like the term babies and the connotations that are going along with it. Why don't they individually or the NPC do something about it now - much like when they erradicated the previous terms.

Because that would involve admitting that they made a really stupid mistake when they tried to jettison "rush" and "pledge" to begin with.

You can't really do anything about campus traditions or popular opinion/word usage. There are certain nicknames national HQs don't like, but on some campi, you can yell "proper nickname" till you're blue in the face and use it on every t-shirt and written communication, and everyone is still going to call you "nickname HQ hates" for forever. The bigger of a deal you make about it, the more of a douche you look like. Which no one wants.

I also think that the "baby" thing is something peculiar to this generation. When 22 year old girls are running around in Hello Kitty and Disney t-shirts without a smidge of irony, it's going to be a little different than the girls who came before. My class would have rather been called "bags" than "babies" any day.

Thank you for that, MysticCat. I will have it removed.:cool:

By George! I think you're on to something. It's a Millenial thing.