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An education on Texas A&M's history and traditions please
Posted on 3/26/14 at 10:07 am
Posted on 3/26/14 at 10:07 am
Well as they come to me I'm sure I'll add to this thread but there are some things I'd like to know, some are simple, some may push tl;dr.
1) Gig'em. What the hell does this mean and where did it come from?
2) Aggies. I read that this came as an old nickname that came from A&M's agricultural background and it just kind of stuck. Is that essentially the story
3) The use of Texas as opposed to A&M when referring to your school. (this one is a bit longer)
I know Texans are proud of being Texans and I noticed how A&M will often use Texas Aggies (rather than Texas A&M Aggies) and have logos that just use a T. I think Texas Aggies sounds cool enough, and I can't blame people from being proud of where they come from, but considering your main rival is the University of Texas how does this work? Does it not feel strange? I just can't imagine either MSU ever calling themselves the Mississippi Bulldogs or the Michigan Spartans, etc.
So as a fan and a student and talking about your school do you usually just say A&M like everyone else or?
1) Gig'em. What the hell does this mean and where did it come from?
2) Aggies. I read that this came as an old nickname that came from A&M's agricultural background and it just kind of stuck. Is that essentially the story
3) The use of Texas as opposed to A&M when referring to your school. (this one is a bit longer)
I know Texans are proud of being Texans and I noticed how A&M will often use Texas Aggies (rather than Texas A&M Aggies) and have logos that just use a T. I think Texas Aggies sounds cool enough, and I can't blame people from being proud of where they come from, but considering your main rival is the University of Texas how does this work? Does it not feel strange? I just can't imagine either MSU ever calling themselves the Mississippi Bulldogs or the Michigan Spartans, etc.
So as a fan and a student and talking about your school do you usually just say A&M like everyone else or?
9
Posted on 3/26/14 at 10:12 am to theGarnetWay
Posted on 3/26/14 at 10:14 am to theGarnetWay
1) Our main rival used to be TCU. They're the frogs. Frog hunting is gigging. The hunting implement is a gig. Gig em means to stab the frogs with a gig.
2) There used to be an A&M in just about every state. They were all called Aggies. In the past 50-60 years they changed names to Such-and-such State in most instances. That's just American history.
3) See above. Texas Aggies as opposed to Oklahoma Aggies or Michigan Aggies. There used to be a Somestate Aggies in every state.
2) There used to be an A&M in just about every state. They were all called Aggies. In the past 50-60 years they changed names to Such-and-such State in most instances. That's just American history.
3) See above. Texas Aggies as opposed to Oklahoma Aggies or Michigan Aggies. There used to be a Somestate Aggies in every state.
Posted on 3/26/14 at 12:35 pm to theGarnetWay
quote:
your main rival is the University of Texas
Not our rival
Posted on 3/26/14 at 12:41 pm to theGarnetWay
quote:
I know Texans are proud of being Texans and I noticed how A&M will often use Texas Aggies (rather than Texas A&M Aggies) and have logos that just use a T. I think Texas Aggies sounds cool enough, and I can't blame people from being proud of where they come from, but considering your main rival is the University of Texas how does this work? Does it not feel strange? I just can't imagine either MSU ever calling themselves the Mississippi Bulldogs or the Michigan Spartans, etc.
Well, we actually don't use just "Texas" instead of "A&M" when referring to our school. We say "Texas Aggies" or "Texas A&M" or "Aggies" or "A&M".
"Texas Aggies" doesn't seem strange or confusing at all to me, given that we're the Aggies from Texas. There are other "Aggies" around the nation, but no other "Aggies" in Texas. So "Texas Aggies" is sufficient to serve as a unique identifier.
And I don't see why anyone should be confused by Texas Longhorns / Texas Aggies if they aren't also confused by Chicago White Sox / Chicago Cubs, LA Lakers / LA Clippers, New York Giants / New York Jets. But people get tripped up because it doesn't fit the [school name]/[nickname] convention.
This post was edited on 3/26/14 at 12:43 pm
Posted on 3/26/14 at 1:23 pm to theGarnetWay
Wikipedia has got you covered
LINK
and before you ask, yes, there are still a good amount of people who live their life by these and take them seriously
LINK
and before you ask, yes, there are still a good amount of people who live their life by these and take them seriously
This post was edited on 3/26/14 at 1:25 pm
Posted on 3/26/14 at 2:29 pm to theGarnetWay
quote:
1) Gig'em. What the hell does this mean and where did it come from?
Used to play TCU every year. Gigging is frog hunting.
quote:
2) Aggies. I read that this came as an old nickname that came from A&M's agricultural background and it just kind of stuck. Is that essentially the story
Correct. Some Oklahoma Sooners still condescendingly refer to some Oklahoma State fans as "Oklahoma Aggies". They used to be Oklahoma A&M, and at the time lots of schools were dropping the "A&M label" as they wanted to reveal that they provided more than just ag majors. Oklahoma A&M did it in 1957 I believe. Can't think of other schools that dropped the name, but there have been a few more I think.
quote:
3) The use of Texas as opposed to A&M when referring to your school. (this one is a bit longer)
The only instance I can think of this, is saying "Fightin Texas Aggies" but it really has to do with the blending of the name of the school/mascot ambiguity. I mean back in the day, the label of schools changed all the time, Auburn wasn't officially called Auburn, but it was always called Auburn... and being an "Aggie" was synonymous with the state Ag school. So "Texas Aggie" meant you went to Texas A.M.C.
Iunno. I'm a first generation Ag, so I did think that was strange the first time it was said, but when you realize its always been said that way, and most likely for a good reason, it makes sense.
Posted on 3/26/14 at 5:46 pm to theGarnetWay
Are you enrolling at A&M in the fall?
This post was edited on 3/26/14 at 5:46 pm
Posted on 3/27/14 at 7:52 am to theGarnetWay
Seeing your threads makes me want to move back and get my masters just because. I'm not sure if I could get into Mays MBA though 
Posted on 3/27/14 at 9:13 am to theGarnetWay
quote:
3) The use of Texas as opposed to A&M when referring to your school. (this one is a bit longer)
I know Texans are proud of being Texans and I noticed how A&M will often use Texas Aggies (rather than Texas A&M Aggies) and have logos that just use a T. I think Texas Aggies sounds cool enough, and I can't blame people from being proud of where they come from, but considering your main rival is the University of Texas how does this work? Does it not feel strange? I just can't imagine either MSU ever calling themselves the Mississippi Bulldogs or the Michigan Spartans, etc.
I guess the idea is we don't like being thought of as less than equal to the sips, so we always used to refer to ourselves as the "Texas Aggies" when they were the "Texas Longhorns". It was on our endzone as Texas Aggies for the longest time. The whole 'Texas A&M Aggies' is actually a relatively recent moniker.
Its really not a big deal, and unless you are a football fan, you probably wouldn't even know or care.
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