In my life, I can think of a few different communities I am a part of that have a unique language to them. One that stands out to me in particular as being a unique community that has a very unique language is my sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma. To many students here at CSU, the community is foreign and often shunned, therefore only about 5% of women on campus are in sororities. This makes us a unique group with a unique language that not many people outside the community can relate to.
The basics of my sorority even have a unique language. I have a “little”…a.k.a. my “little sister”, meaning I serve as mentor for her in the house. We also have “chapter”, which are our weekly meetings in which we discuss business, vote, etc. We have a “house mom” and “hashers” (boys to help out in the kitchen) to help her with meals. We also practice “ritual” (secret traditions) at initiation and have a fun-filled “inspiration week” leading up to initiation. We wear our “billboards” (letter shirts) on campus every Wednesday and make paddles for our “bigs”(big sister-mentor).
Clearly, if one is not an insider in the Greek community, everything I just mentioned seems absolutely foreign. Although all of these terms can be explained in laymen’s terms, we have adopted our own insider language to refer to certain aspects of sorority life. These words are used almost daily in not only our house, but also in sorority houses across the nation. Knowing the meaning and importance of these words provides for a bond between sorority women and provides a certain credibility and right of passage.
It is an easy way to refer to aspects of our community in words, and words that everyone understands. We all know “ritual” holds a sacred meaning and calls for a serious, somber atmosphere. We all know what it means when we are asked to show our house support and wear our “billboards”. This language provides for a fast and efficient way of communicating, and also provides for a sense of uniqueness and togetherness since we all share a common knowledge of these concepts that are unfamiliar to the outside world.
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Molly, I did not even think to write about Language in Kappa! Great idea : )!! I agree with everything you addressed in your Langauge Investigation and am deffinately on the same page as you with the appearing "foreigness" of our Greek community
ReplyDeleteI think this all rings very true. I'm not in a sorority but I have been part of different organizations or groups that have a very particular language that no one else would besides members would understand. I'm glad that you wrote about this because it gives people insight into worlds outside of their own that they might not otherwise think about!
ReplyDeleteI just learned a lost about sororities. I have heard a lot of words like hashers and always wondered what everyone was talking about! It is very cool that you have a uniqueness and togetherness in language with people your close to.
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