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"Home of the Rebels"

Posted by Bob on February 12, 2004

In Reply to: "Home of the Rebels" Posted by One from Seoul on February 12, 2004

: : : : : :
: : : : : : What does this phrase mean when it is affixed to the names of high schools or collages?
: : : : : : As in "COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL, Home of the Rebels"...
: : : : : : Thanks.

: : : : : Schools in the U.S. have the custom of adopting a nickname. Sometimes it is an animal -- Shady Spring High School Tigers, etc. Or, in the case above, it is "the Rebels."

: : : : Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that most school nicknames are attached to a specific sports team, such as the varsity football team. Sometimes there's a mascot as well. Both the nickname and mascot are useful when the cheerleaders pump up enthusiasm for their team at pep rallies and at the games themselves. Sometimes the producers of teen flicks and TV shows use nicknames for humorous effect, as in the Smallville Crows, or the Sunnydale Razorbacks (a type of hog). "Varsity" means university in Brit-speak, but American high schools, which are not universities, and colleges, which are not colleges either, use "varsity" to mean their premium team, the one that plays in competition with other schools. I was once a member of the junior junior varsity in basketball, and we played against only the worst of the worst. SS

: : : Excuse me, in the last message read: "colleges, which are not universityies either . . ." SS

: : Sheesh, this is getting awful. Just pretend I spelled "universities" correctly. SS

: Thanks, guys.
: I still wonder why so many high schools have adopted this same nickname. I hit a search at Google, and more than a thousand muddle or high schools turned out to have the same nickname.
: So does this 'rebels' simply mean 'rebellious kids'? Does it, by any chance, mean Confederate Army in the Civil War?

Among American high schools, "Wildcats" is the most frequently used nickname. The reason for the repetition is that there are thousands and thousands of high schools, and finding a unique name is almost impossible. Here in Illinois, there are the Freeport Pretzels, the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes, and the (I forget the name of the town) Corn Jerkers.

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