British Comedy Guide

Things that piss you off Page 1,629

Sorry, but that's the best laugh I've had for ages (but think I'll steer clear of car washes)

F**king Americans talking about Sororities - or whatever they're f**king called. There must be an English word for it. Is it basically just a "House"?

Quote: Chappers @ 26th October 2015, 10:16 PM GMT

F**king Americans talking about Sororities - or whatever they're f**king called. There must be an English word for it. Is it basically just a "House"?

Haven't you ever watched Animal House?

Quote: DaButt @ 26th October 2015, 10:33 PM GMT

Haven't you ever watched Animal House?

Maybe about 100 years ago.

Please explain.

They're basically social organizations at universities. Wikipedia sez:

Fraternities and sororities in North America are social organizations at universities in the United States and Canada. There are also fraternities and sororities in the Philippines structured along the lines of the North American tradition, as well as a small number in the United Kingdom. Similar, but much less common, organizations also exist for secondary school students. In modern usage, the term "Greek letter organization" ("GLO") is often synonymous with the terms "fraternity" and "sorority." Two additional types of fraternities, professional fraternities and honor societies, incorporate some limited elements of traditional fraternity organization but are generally considered a different type of association. Traditional fraternities of the type described in this article are often called "social fraternities."

Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained while an undergraduate student but continues, thereafter, for life. While individual fraternities and sororities vary in exact organization and purpose, most share five common elements: (1) secrecy, (2) single-sex membership, (3) selection of new members on the basis of a two-part vetting and probationary process known as rushing and pledging, (4) ownership and occupancy of a residential property at which the undergraduate members of the fraternity or sorority live, (5) use of a set of complex identification symbols including Greek letters, armorial achievements, ciphers, badges, grips, handsigns, passwords, flowers, and colours.

Fraternities and sororities engage in philanthropic activities, often host parties and other events that place them at the social epicenter of life on a university campus, sometimes provide "finishing" training for new members, such as instruction on etiquette, dress, and manners, and create networking and career opportunities for their newly graduated members.

Quote: Chappers @ 26th October 2015, 10:16 PM GMT

F**king Americans talking about Sororities - or whatever they're f**king called. There must be an English word for it. Is it basically just a "House"?

They literally just don't exist here. So I don't think there's an equivalent word.
College just seems so much more like an extension of high school in America.

All sounds a bit pathetic really.

Quote: Chappers @ 26th October 2015, 11:02 PM GMT

All sounds a bit pathetic really.

It's just a voluntary bit of fun that can come in handy when it comes to making friends in a university 2000 miles from home. Not my cup of tea, but it's really just an extension of what a university is all about: getting drunk and getting laid, with the odd bit of schoolwork thrown in.

Does that sorority hazing stuff still happen? I basically only know about it from the teenage books I read in the '90s. Oh and gay porn, obv.

Quote: zooo @ 26th October 2015, 11:21 PM GMT

Does that sorority hazing stuff still happen?

I guess so, because I occasionally see stories about frats being shut down due to hazing. Most universities don't tolerate anything that makes them look bad, so I assume it's mostly harmless stuff like running around in your underwear and other slightly embarrassing stuff.

All these end of year/ year in review things that are starting to appear. It is October! Wait until December 26. Its bad enough some shops have Christmas decorations up already.

Quote: DaButt @ 26th October 2015, 11:26 PM GMT

I guess so, because I occasionally see stories about frats being shut down due to hazing. Most universities don't tolerate anything that makes them look bad, so I assume it's mostly harmless stuff like running around in your underwear and other slightly embarrassing stuff.

Don't British public schools have similar 'clubs' and rites of passage type stuff? Wasn't our Prime Minister recently accused of something that could be considered a 'hazing'?

Quote: reds @ 27th October 2015, 9:26 PM GMT

All these end of year/ year in review things that are starting to appear. It is October! Wait until December 26. Its bad enough some shops have Christmas decorations up already.

The build-up to our Christmas is delayed these days because of that f**king American abomination Halloween which is getting bigger and bigger every year.

It's already eclipsed our Guy Fawkes Night (November 5th) and I can see it overtaking Christmas in our increasingly Pagan country.

Quote: Chappers @ 27th October 2015, 10:07 PM GMT

The build-up to our Christmas is delayed these days because of that f**king American abomination Halloween which is getting bigger and bigger every year.

Couldn't agree more - we never had it when I was a kid and fireworks were for on or around Nov. 5th. Not all the f**king year round. Angry

I bloody love Halloween. I wish we could adopt Thanksgiving too.

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