Frat or Fraternity

[SigEpYoda]

I personally get offended when someone calls my fraternity a frat. It depict an old and outdated stareotype of the 70s and early 80s fraternitities. What does everyone thing about it?

[SilverTurtle]

I never gave it much thought. I mean, my fraternity is coed, and when it was founded it was a women's fraternity (and that was the term used, not sorority), and people who don't know about it (other than that I am part of it) always refer to it as a sorority. Which I don't like because it is misleading and leaves out a lot of very important people, but I don't take it personally. Usually I just inform them.

As far as frat vs. fraternity, I think that typically in my spoken communication I use the term "fraternity", but I know that I usually shorten it to "frat" when typing/writing/etc. That's just laziness though . I can see where the shortened term may conjur up some negative stereotypes, but I also think that most of the time if it does do that, then it is because that person already has those stereotypes in mind. They would probably get the same idea either way.

Regardless, it's great that you have pride in your GLO (<---see! more laziness ) and not because it's a party house.

[awatters]

The way it was explained to me is this:

you wouldn't call your country a "c.unt," would you?

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andrew watters
Theta Chi – ucla

[This message has been edited by awatters (edited March 22, 2000).]

[kmullini]

Originally posted by SigEpYoda:
I personally get offended when someone calls my fraternity a frat. It depict an old and outdated stareotype of the 70s and early 80s fraternitities. What does everyone thing about it?

Sig Ep, I agree with you a 100% I do feel offended when my fraternity is referred to that way.

Andrew, nicely put.

[mgdzkm433]

I don't really know if there is a difference, but I am a part of a professional women's fraternity, and a social sorority. Because it's a women't fraternity maybe I don't see the difference (also because it's professional)in terms. That also might be because I am greek and I know the truth. However, I do see the point. The word "frat" might seem less distinguished and more "animal house." I agree with silverturtle. I find that I say the whole word Fraternity when talking, but when writing I write frat out of convenience. That's a part of my laziness too! It's just easier. I once heard someone say that it didn't bother them if brothers called the fraternity a frat, but when non-greeks called it a frat it really bothered them. I can see that point of view. I think that when greeks talk to other greeks and they say frat, its not disrespectful because they each know what it takes to be in a fraternity and they have respect for each other and their fraternity. But I could be wrong, and if you would rather me spell out the whole word when writing, just let me know--I'll try my hardest not to forget!

Mikki

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"I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special."

--Julia Roberts
(Steel Magnolias)

[This message has been edited by mgdzkm433 (edited March 23, 2000).]

[33girl]

Would you call a sorority a sore?

Would you call your mother a moth?

Then don't call a fraternity a frat!!!! It's so offensive, and sounds very uneducated and stupid. When I hear other greeks do this I want to SCREAM!!!

Maybe we should have a special spell-check modifier on this site so we can write frat & have it come out fraternity...because it is a pain in the a$$ to write!!!

[mgdzkm433]

Well,

Just a note:
we do call our sorority sister: sorors

we call our mothers: mom

So there are shorter forms of those words. Not trying to argue--just giving an example. I do agree that frat does sound a little harsh coming from a non-greek, just because they don't know what it's like, but from a fellow greek who knows. . .I don't think it's that bad.

[awatters]

I'm a man, and it's a fraternity, therefore I am a fraternity man. Not "frat boy" to the non-greeks. When brothers call it a frat it doesn't bother me in an all-greek setting, but when there are non-greeks there, it does irritate me– the non-greeks will naturally call our GLO whatever the greeks call it, so it's important to stick with "fraternity." When it's me and the brothers sitting around talking about GLOs, we all know that we really mean "fraternity" when we say "frat."

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andrew watters
Theta Chi – ucla

[SoCalGirl]

Before I became Greek and even as a pledge I called all fraternity members "Frat Boys". But then I got the evil eye and a talking to by my Pledge Dad.

Now I know there's a huge diff between frat boys and fraternity men. One being the epitomy of the stereotype and the other of the ideal.

Another thing...I had NEVER heard the word Soror before coming to this site and I've been in a sorority for two years. I call my sorority sisters SISTER never SOROR.

To the best of my knowledge BGLO's call their fellow sisters - sorors and GLO's call their fellow sisters - sisters...

Furthermore I admit when I think poorly of a house I refer to them as "frat boys" but when I respect a house I refer to them as "fraternity men". everyone knows the degrading saying of sorority girls "I will not date a frat boy". but I add to it "I will not date a frat boy only fraternity men."

[LXAAlum]

Sorority Girl - here is a quote I found on a chapter's website - I like the distinctions listed, and it dovetails nicely with your perceptions:

A fraternity man joins a fraternity for the rich friendships and growth it brings to his life.

A frat boy joins a fraternity and expects others to take care of him; he generally pays his dues late.

A fraternity man joins joins a fraternity for the rich friendships and growth it brings to his life.

A frat boy joins a fraternity for what the fraternity can do for him and not what he can do for the fraternity.

A fraternity man, if he drinks, realizes he must drink responsibly.

The frat boy drinks to get drunk and becomes disgusting.

A fraternity man understands others are watching and knows his actions impact his fraternity.

A frat boy has no idea how his actions impact others and he doesn't care.

A fraternity man does what's right, even when nobody's watching.

A frat boy puts on a show for the world, but when nobody's watching, is rude and vulgar.

A fraternity man is a campus leader, who takes part in activities offered on campus.

A frat boy does not become involved and steps away from positions of leadership.

A fraternity man focuses on his class work and uses his time wisely.

A frat boy may goes to class, but usually misses one or two while recovering from the night before.

A fraternity man spends time with alumni and has respect for them, realizing that much can be learned from those who have come before him.

A frat boy is disrespectful towards his elders and the alumni, and eventually runs them off.




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Don't be your brother's keeper; rather, be your brother's Brother.

[olddude21]

Personally,

I think this whole idea of being offended by someone saying frat is kinda crazy. Is it more important to worry about what someone calls your organization or you actually carrying out the business of the organization? I think to go all out into the deep end about someone saying frat seems to show that you might be losing focus of the real issue. Is it really such a big deal?

[mgdzkm433]

olddude:

You posted that you wanted to know what rush was all about and how it works. That says to me that you aren't greek.

SO, how can you make any assumptions about this topic. You are on the wrong end of the stick. Only a person in a fraternity knows what it actually means. I don't want to seem rude, but what the word fraternity means to you is probably totally different than what the word fraternity means to a member. The same goes for frat.

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"I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special."

--Julia Roberts
(Steel Magnolias)

Visit me at:
http://homepages.go.com/~dzkm433/index.html
and
http://www.calypso.com/dzkm433/welcomtomyworld.chtml

[SilverTurtle]

Then again, when you're talking about what the term 'frat' embodies, a non-Greek may be the better person to ask.

[Q-T Pie]

As I have posted before, I am not Greek but plan to rush in the fall. I have friends who are in fraternities and they have never said anything about being offended by the word frat. I will admit that I often say frat out of pure laziness, but I never think anything of it. When I hear either word I never get a bad picture, but this could be because I have never been given a reason to. I can understand how the word frat upsets some beacuse it could give a non-Greek a bad picture of your organization, but from my non-Greek point of view I don't think it's that bad. I think people often assume bad things when they hear the word frat is because the media and movies have put such a drunken and ignorant cloud around Greek life.

Please, anyone correct me if I'm wrong.

Allison


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A mistake at least proves that somebody stopped talking long enough to do something. ~ Anonymous