Why those letters? (public/private)

[Smile_Awhile]

Originally Posted by Thetagirl218

I would think that most of the NPC sororities have private meanings to their letters (Other than the already stated Alpha Chi Omega).

Kappa Alpha Theta's is secret.

Yes, Alpha Chi has a public meaning. But that may not be the only one.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by Thetagirl218

I would think that most of the NPC sororities have private meanings to their letters (Other than the already stated Alpha Chi Omega).

Kappa Alpha Theta's is secret.

I'd venture to say that ALL of them do. Chi Omega famously chose their letters because they looked good together, but I'm sure there is some deeper meaning to those letters, as well. The how of picking letters may vary, but I guarantee that no one's letters are meaningless.

[jennyj87]

Originally Posted by naraht

However which of the meanings was actually the *reason* that the letters were chosen could be either, and a Delta Delta Delta sister especially a historian would know much better than I...

oops i'm a terrible officer, i was the historian for 3 months when one of our officers left . Well, I'm gonna wait for another Tri Delta to come on here and say it, cause I don't want to mess us. Okay I should clarify a REASON why they were chosen is told to the new members at their retreat. Hmmmm.

[Gusteau]

Our associate member pin is in the shape of a delta with a chi in the middle separating the pin into four sections. They are given a meaning to "inspire" the AMs but I wouldn't really consider those words to be an alternate meaning to our letters but more of a meaning for the letters on the pin. The AM ceremony is open and so are the meaning of these letters.

[RU OX Alum]

Originally Posted by LucyKKG

Theta Chi's name isn't secret. It means "helping hand." I can't spell it right, but it's something like Thereposa Cheir in Greek.

something like that

[AGDee]

If I told you, I'd have to kill you

[SWTXBelle]

The Hebrew on our badge causes a great deal of head-scratching - and listing as a "Jewish sorority" on e-bay.

[Bella796]

If you speak Hebrew you can speculate what it stands for

[SWTXBelle]

Heck, if you speak/read Hebrew you can read it - but you still won't know exactly what it means to Gamma Phi.

[ask_bm001]

Alpha Sigma Kappa's is secret

However, our Greek letters represent the social aspect of our sorority. Our formal name, Women in Technical Studies, represents our focus on academics and learning.

[fantASTic]

AST has a closed and an open motto. The open motto is Active, Self-Reliant, Trustworthy - obviously spelling AST as well. The closed motto is nunya bizniz :P

[CougarGrad]

Originally Posted by fantASTic

AST has a closed and an open motto. The open motto is Active, Self-Reliant, Trustworthy - obviously spelling AST as well. The closed motto is nunya bizniz :P

Is that the Pig Latin, or Esperanto?

[Psi U MC Vito]

Originally Posted by naraht

Well the motto according to the Wikipedia page is Θηρόποσα Χείρ , but I've seen at least three ways to transliterate it, and at least two ways to translate it (The Wikipedia page apparently gets people changing it back and forth between "An Assisting Hand" and "A Helping Hand") The motto is apparently the greek, not any specific english translation.

However, I haven't found anything on the National Fraternity site or on an official school greek site that says that's where the name comes from. I agree that it is *highly* likely though...

(I was composing this before MysticCat responded)

I'm pretty close with a couple of OX brothers at my school. One came straight out and told me that the formal name of the organization Θηρόποσα Χείρ, which the chapter at my school translate as the helping hand. Also from what I was told OX's motto was originally a secret but was reveled for a specific reason, which I'm not going to say here.

[pshsx1]

I probably could have replied to this like 15 days ago... but whatever.

Sigma Phi Epsilon does not have a public meaning.

Although, a few of our symbols have partially public meanings (like the Greek Orthodox cross on the crest or the fact that our badge is a heart).

[Psi U MC Vito]

Yeah the meaning behind the Psi Upsilon are secret. However unlike most organizations our coat of arms is completely open.