[Fatal1913]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Sorry, but I have to say it -- I'm sure some at GC expect me to say it: It has nothing to do with following a vowel. That's a Greek urban legend.

The Greek pronunciation of the name of the letter X (Xi) is ksee. (In Greek, X = ks and i always = ee.)

Because in English we don't typically start a word with an x sound and instead substitute a z sound (xylophone, Xavier, Xerox) the anglicized pronunciation of the name of the letter X is zee.

But because we also tend in English not to pronounce a single i in a one syllable word as ee, the Americanized pronunciation of the name of the letter X is zeye. (We do the same thing with P, F, C and Y.)

It has nothing to do with what letter comes before it. It's simply that Alpha Xi Delta chose to use the pronunciation of the name of the letter X closer to the Greek (like Alpha Phi did with the pronunciation of the name of the letter F). That's all.

That said, as a general rule, I'm with you on substituting Greek letters for English ones -- it looks like we don't know what the letters really are.

I think it just looks like we are trying to be creative with our letters... why try to make it more than it is... most people, atleast Greeks, know what it is you are doing/saying. I have even seen ppl insert their line numbers in to their line name like "In2ative"