Fraternity Stereotypes:

Lambda Chi (LCA) – Rammed A Guy

Sigma Nu (SN) – Sigma Who?

Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) – (S)exual (A)ssaults (E)xpected

Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT) – (Z)ero (B)itches (T)here

Bobby, who this past year joined the fraternity ZBT at USC, discovered that there is a “Frat Row” lingo, which includes the above blason populaire.  He learned those jokes from several other students who are part of the Greek life here at USC, but are not in his fraternity.  Each of the above are stereotypes that are used to poke fun at the names of each fraternity.  For instance, the joke for Lamda Chi is claiming that the brothers in this fraternity are all homosexual, when in reality that is nowhere near true, that is why this is a stereotype.  Bobby was surprised when he first heard these jokes but learned that it is just part of the competitive fraternity mentality to put down other fraternities.  Being in Zeta Beta Tau and hearing that joke about his fraternity, Bobby was definitely disturbed at first but realized as the year went on that just like all stereotypes, some might believe them but they’re not always true.

Also being a member of ZBT at USC, I have heard this form of fraternity blason populaire but from older brothers in the fraternity.  It is in the nature of many Greek’s, specifically fraternity guys, to be competitive and talk down other fraternities.  All one needs to do is ask someone who is in a fraternity about another house, and most of the time these stereotypes will get brought up.  However, to build on Bobby’s analysis of these jokes, I believe they are not just spread by Greek male students, but also be females and non-Greek males.  Girls, whether they are in a sorority or not, tend to further support these stereotypes by using them when referring to houses they aren’t fond of.  Non-Greek males tend to do the same, however it as more of distaste for the Greek system in general rather than specific fraternities.

I did some further research on these Fraternity/Sorority fake names, and there is a website (http://thespinzone.com/greek.php) dedicated toward listing out all of the fake stereotypical names for fraternities and sororities.  The information is gathered from people across the country, proving that different universities have similar and diverse “spin names” (as the website calls them) for each fraternity and sorority.