BoDerickus was a Sigma Nu in college. Back when I was in college, many of the fraternities used the "Animal House" method of picking nicknames for their pledges. They took pictures of the pledges, then hung a bedsheet and used a slide projector to project that picture on the wall. At this point, a bunch of (mostly) drunken college kids hurled insults at the picture until something stuck. I am sure it's more high tech now, probably done with computers, but I am also sure the drinking and insulting are the same. There was one guy in my fraternity who drunkenly screamed "Shaven Testicle" at every picture for a couple years running. Thankfully for those pledges, no one listened to him.
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| Me, riding around campus |
My pledge name was Grape Ape. My three best friends from college were Oompa Loompa, Dumbo Letterman and Stubacca. The latter was particularly fitting since his name was Stu and he was big and hairy (it really was a no brainer-sometimes drunken frat guys get it right). The funniest of my class was Uretha Franklin. The dumbest/weirdest I remember was one poor kid whose unfortunate choice in shoes got him stuck with: "Attention KMart Shoppers, Velcro Sneakers, Why Pay More?" which fortunately got shortened to just KMart. Others I remember include Psycho, Grimace, Lucky Pierre, Merkin, Fromunda Cheese, Red-Eye Jedi and Hashish.
Other nicknames I've been saddled with over the years include: Baby Huey, Virgil, Google Bean, and Big Pink (or BP for short). Two non-fraternity guys from my college were called Moose and Muffinhead, and Dumbo had the much more used nickname of Doctor (short for "Doctor of Love"). Guys at my high school were also tagged. There was Heavy Dog, Snoot, Cowboy, Three Meat, Head, and Mad Dog, to name a few; as well as a whole breakfast table of nicknames on the football team, including Milk (very white legs), Corn Flakes (given to a poor guy who puked a lot during two-a-days), Sausage (legs looked like sausage links) and Toast (our DB who was constantly getting burned). The nickname thing seems to be passed on to younger generations. Toast's younger brother, who outweighed him by 50+ pounds, was tagged as Muffin, probably as a tribute to his older brother's nickname (got to keep it in the breakfast food family).
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| Frat guys leading a YMCA cheer? |
What is it with guys that they feel the uncontrollable need to saddle every other guy with a nickname? My guess is that assigning nicknames and the ability to do sound effects are what set us apart from the animals (and females for that matter).
What about you? Did you have a funny nickname or do you remember any ones from college or high school given to your friends? Reply back with the best.
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