Nickname Question
 

All Hail, Bros!

This is an off-the-wall question, but I'm curious. Obviously, a brother in FMA is called a Sinfonian. But every other fraternity or sorority that I can think of has a nickname for the group and its members -- "SAI," "Sig Ep," "Kappa Sig," "Pike," or "Tri-Delta" are a few examples that come quickly to mind. I have never heard a nickname for Sinfonia or Sinfonians, though (other than "Phi Mu" from people who don't seem to realize that there is a Phi Mu sorority -- come to think of it, the only other GLO I know of with no nickname).

Anybody ever heard or used a nickname for Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia or for Sinfonians?

Sorry, I know this question is totally unrelated......
 

What does "sinfonia" mean?

But a good question
 

The original name of our Fraternity was The Sinfonia Fraternity -- the letters FMA were important to us from the earliest days, and eventually the name was changed to Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity.

From our membership manual, Themes for Brotherhood:

"The word is a particularly rich pun. Its etymological origin is straightforward, for the Greek "syn-" or "sym-" means "with" and "phon" a "sound." Their combination into "symphonia," however, means "agreeing in sound" or "concordant." When the word passed from Greek into the English language as "symphony," it was used not only in reference to things musical, but to agreement among human beings and even to the harmony of the universe -- that celestial symphony commented on by philosophers of such varying stripes as Pythagoras, Boethius, and Kepler."

Hope that helps.

Sinfonia
 

Very well said Mystic Cat81....Fraternally, The other Mystic Cat

Nickname
 

The only other name, as you probably already know Mystic Cat81, is the "Mystic Cats". T. Jervis talks about the origins of this name before it was the national publication that existed before the Red and Black. If you'd like some more info PM me...it's really interesting actually. Fraternally, Mystic Cat32(The other Mystic Cat)

board crasher alert
 

My best friend, a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, always referred to himself as a Sinfonian, as did the members of the chapter at my school. That's the only nickname I've ever heard. I must confess, I think it's very classy.

Thanks, KappaStargirl
 

Thanks for the compliment. As I have learned from Ms. MysticCat, Kappas always recognize classy when they see it.

Of course, she married me anyway. ;)

Re: Nickname
 

Interesting, Brother MysticCat. I know what Bro. Underwood has in the Centennial History, including the old songs and poems about the Mystic Cat, but I have never heard it used a nick-name . . . well, except by folks like you and me on this board. :cool: Thanks.

Re: Nickname
 

edit.

We called them "Mu's" on our campus, or Phi Mu (and yes, we knew there was a sorority by the same name, but there isn't one anywhere nearby, so it didn't really matter)

To my knowledge, the official "nickname" for members of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia is "Sinfonians."

Hope that helps.

Hey bros. Im new on this forum just wanted to say hey and All Hail!!!.....And to the Lovely Lady of Delta Omicron "D.O."a special hello i have never met any other D.O.'s except for the ones at the i used to attend which was Morris Brown College Gamma Beta Chapter.

welcome to greekchat MysticCat1898!

I've always known you guys as "Sinfonia".

By the way, you have at least one brother I know of preparing to go to the Middle East. He's a Blackhawk pilot, and was an AST sweetheart when I was a collegian. (Still a sweetheart to several of us!)

I just had to drop in and see what ya'll were up to!
PsychTau

Thanks for letting us know about our Brother Sinfonian in the Middle East, PsychTau. I hope and pray that all goes well with him and those with whom he serves!

Greetings Brother Mystic1898!!!

Although Sinfonia ia apart of our fraternity name...If you thuink about it, it is our nickname.

Pardon the forum crash, but I appreciate this bump because it led me to finally figure out where one of my favorite GCers got his screen name, MysticCat. I didn't know it was rooted in Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, so it sent me off on a google search to find the connection and meaning.

I found a wealth of information at this link (assuming it's all correct, of course): http://www.pilambda.com/mystic.html

But this by far was my favorite discovery, testament that he truly does know all, it's "Ask the Mystic Cat"!! :) :) http://www.xmission.com/~emailbox/mysticat.htm

LOL on "Ask the Mystic Cat"!! That'll help on the race, don't you think?

But yes, the historical info you found at the Pi Lambda chapter website (which is accurate) is where my name comes from. "A most mysterious mystery is the might Mystic Cat . . . ."

Haha, wow that is really funny that you found that website, because that was actually my chapters official website, up until last year when we stopped paying for the domain.

Pi Lambda chapter, province 39, glad someone got some use out of the website.

Also, not to correct Mystic Cat, but the name Sinfonia actually first came from a musical group in Liepsig Germany which i believe was affiliated with ossian

Careful there Brother.The story is that it was George Chadwick, President of the New England Conservatory, and not Father Mills who had belonged to a club named Sinfonia in Leipzig and who suggested that name for our Fraternity. That story has been handed down for a long, long time, but no historical documentation has ever been found to corroborate it. So, it might be true or it might not. ;)

We call the Sinfonians at my school Sinfonians or PMAs. It makes sense with 'SAI', I guess. Plus, there's also a Phi Mu chapter here that a ton of SAIs are members of (including myself!) so the "Phi Mu" thing would never fly.

The only other nickname I've ever heard us referred to as would be the *CENSORED*, but that's rarely, if ever, used. Back in my day, we were always referred to as Sinfonia or as Phi Mu, despite having a chapter of the Phi Mu sorority on campus.

Hey Rob. Welcome to GreekChat!

I have actually heard us referred to as "Phi Muers" this is coming from one of my professors and alumn who happens to be my choral director.

Well now, that's one I've never heard. Interesting.

Any idea what chapter he's from, or where he picked Phi Muers up?

If I remember right he is from around Indiana if that helps at all. He does seem like the person who would make that up. But not in regards to Sinfonia, that would be out of character for him.

Nickname
 

Very Interesting indeed.

ok my mistake. he is from the university of illinois

again my mistake he is an honorary from our chapter. So I have no clue whats going on. as usual

I am proud to call myself a Sinfonian. No need to bother calling myself anything else, just cause it's shorter.

:cool::D

Welcome!

http://www.volnation.com/forum/image...default/hi.gif
Online, I rarely have any Sinfonians with which to speak, so it's nice to find a few here!

Fall 05, Theta Omicron (Tennessee, Knoxville)

Glad to see you. There aren't too many of us here too often -- except for me; I'm here way too often :D

Cool. What chapter are you from?

Pardon the crash, but I just had to tell you all that the nickname "Sinfonian" (hope I spelled that correctly!) is probably one of my favorite nicknames for any GLO. It has such a classy ring to it, which is fitting since I've never met a Sinfonian who wasn't a class act!

Back in my own lane now :)

Nailed it, and I am glad to know we've been nothing but good.

You're welcome to swerve into our lane any time!

Thanks! I've always been impressed by the dedication of my Sinfonian friends to their organization and its values. Plus, as a musician I definitely have a special spot in my heart for anything that promotes a love of music...especially a Greek organization! :p Thanks for letting me stop in and say hello! :)