Sorority Recruitment Translations

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Titchou

I can't ever remember a time when someone said "bless your/her/his heart" using ANY tone of voice that I didn't consider it at least a polite insult.

Oh no, it can certainly be a true compliment, as in "I just made these cookies, Miss Sallie, and thought you might like some." "Well, bless your heart, aren't you nice." (If the gift-giver is a child or a young woman, it could be "aren't you precious.") Or it can be an expression of sympathy, as in "My arthritis is acting up again." "Awwww, bless your heart."

Originally Posted by ellebud

I never said that I gave any credence what so ever to WranglerDarlin. What concerns and infuriates me is that someone out there will give some credence to her. Let us imagine a house reading this, investigating and then saying, "it MIGHT be XXXXXXX, so let's drop her because while we like her, she may the liar."

I would say that someone should wrangle in their mouth, computer and invest in some restraint.

Bless her heart.

Well played, ma'am. Well played.

[Titchou]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Oh no, it can certainly be a true compliment, as in "I just made these cookies, Miss Sallie, and thought you might like some." "Well, bless your heart, aren't you nice." (If the gift-giver is a child or a young woman, it could be "aren't you precious.") Or it can be an expression of sympathy, as in "My arthritis is acting up again." "Awwww, bless your heart."

That may be the case in some places but, I assure you, it's not within my circles!

[LionTamer]

At SEC or other schools where the houses are huge, you are all probably right about "I didn't click = I think I'm too good for this house."

But at schools where the sororities are much smaller, some groups do tend to develop "characters". One of my best friends was a (studious and serious) XYZ and I was a (boisterous) ASA - we often ate with each other's sororities (dorm housing) and I would never have been comfortable at XYZ (even though they were great girls), and she often looked shell-shocked after lunch with the ASAs.

So if someone back then had said "I don't really feel I fit in at ASA", that may very well have been exactly what they meant, and had nothing to do with "status" or appearance-related issues.

With smaller groups, these characters can also change over just a few years; for all I know, a few years later, ASA may have been the "studious" sorority and XYZ may have become more boisterous.

Exception that proves the rule: We recently had a mini-reunion at the shore, and one of my pledge sisters, Kristi, who is very quiet, said "I never understood why so-and-so pledged ASA. She was so quiet, and I can't imagine she was comfortable with us." Everyone just stared at her with her mouth open, because every single one of us had speculated the same thing about our beloved Kristi!

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Titchou

That may be the case in some places but, I assure you, it's not within my circles!

Fair enough.

And as long as I brought it up, I might as well point out that "aren't you/isn't that precious" can also be a compliment or a "polite insult," depending on context and tone.