I didn't understand what the big deal about the word "frat" was until I became Greek. Now I understand, and it's like fingernails on a blackboard.
I love what LXAAlum and SigEp42 posted; it really does help to distinguish between a frat boy and a fraternity man. Similarly, I distinguish bewteen "sorority girl" and "sorority/fraternity woman." Don't even get me started on trying to explain to non-Greeks why Kappa is a
fraternity (the etymology posted by Bonelifer comes into play there).
Anyway, I don't like the whole "country/cunt" comparison, and it seems a little silly to those who don't get it. I remember an XBF using that comparison and thinking that he was just being melodramatic. I'd more likely compare "fraternity/frat" to "ethnic group/racial slur" because that comparison truly shows how insulting some of us find the term "frat" to be.
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Quote:
Originally posted by 33girl
NPC has been saying this for years, and (for once) I agree. Not only because all chapters don't have houses, but because the focus/reason people pledge should be on the members (the chapter) instead of the structure (the house). It's kind of like the difference between the words "house" and "home."
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This is a particularly touchy subject on my campus, where only one of our three NPC sororities is housed. A typical exchange goes like this. Non-LU Sorority Woman: "So, how many houses do y'all have?" Me: "One." NLSW: "But I thought you said that y'all weren't housed." Me: "Correct. We have three
chapters. Only one has a house."
Or, as I often say to my university's disgruntled fraternity alumni, "I sincerely hope that you see your brotherhood as more than a pile of bricks."
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