To think we should get rid of all titles - Sir, Lord, Ms, Master, Prince etc.

[Ohfuckrucksack]

No more Lords, no more Sirs, no fretting about Ms, Mrs or Miss and definitely get rid of Master, Prince etc.

I listen to the radio with them having to insert the 'Sir' and 'Lord' before people's names as though these titles make them more important people.

Have we not gone beyond honorifics? Most of these people have done very little to deserve their extra titles and some are actively harmful individuals.

I am still pondering on the Dr title for medics - because that is a professional title rather than honorary but wouldn't use it for those with PHDs.

As PHDs are becoming more common, will it eventually be 'infra dig' to declare it?

Key Details on UK PhD Statistics:

• Total Population: Roughly 1.3%–2% of the population holds a doctorate.
• Recent Graduates: 28,245 postgraduate research qualifications were awarded in 2022/23, a 13% increase from 2020/21.

But Dr is my title.
I'm not using it to announce my job title or skill set. I'm just using my title when I'm asked to provide it.

By your logic medical doctors shouldn't be using it as a title outside of work either.

They're still not common.

Postgraduate research qualifications don't just mean Doctorate either. They include qualifications such as an MRes.

The number of Doctoral graduates is bound to increase as we have a higher number of people attending university in general. However, that doesn't detract from the achievement.

We can all list our qualifications I think. ‘25 yards breaststroke yellow’ at your service.
If you’ve worked hard and earned your doctorate in any discipline, then I say use it.

PhD Dr is also a professional title, as is Professor. It's useful in certain settings to show the level of expertise and experience someone has in a subject. I'd be known as Dr Notilucentcloud if eg I was being interviewed on something relevant to my research in the press, but I'm known by my first name to my colleagues and students and I'd just be Notilucentcloud if I was being interviewed about something not relevant to my job.

What about the Professors?

Ms., Mrs., Master, or Mr. can be helpful when calling out names in a packed waiting room - particularly when those poor unfortunates have been named Buttercup Heron Indigo by their whacky parents. It gives the caller a heads up on am I looking for a male or female here.

Quick question! Are vets doctors in the same way that medical doctors are doctors? I have met vets that go by dr, mr or first name and now I'm curious! (I also know one who I refer to as the bad man with poky fingers and m dog knows EXACTLY who im talking about..)

As a young married professional in the 1980s, I tried my damnedest to avoid using any title at all, just my first name and surname (‘Jane Smith’). However as the world moved on digitally, I found that saying ‘no title thankyou’ meant any online/phone application for anything couldn’t proceed, purely because of that single box which “couldn’t be left blank”. Very frustrating.

Another that thinks a Ms. and Mr. And Dr for a medical doctor would do the job. I like addressing things to eg Ms. or Mr. whatever- I wouldn’t like to move to first names!

I agree with could start with dismantling the honours system and titles within the aristocracy.

How will you stop them using their titles? First offence fine, second offence jail?

you choose how you want to be addressed and I will choose how I want to be addressed? How about that?

The only Professor I know well takes it very badly when we call him Prof instead of his name.

It could be the way we do it though.

I think we're moving away from the general idea of the AIBU and a little bit too focused on the 'Dr' thingy.

Call yourself Dr if it makes you happy - but what about the Lords, Ladies , Knights and Dames?

What about the difference in who we call by their first name automatically - children, lower paid workers and those we give a choice to - elders, more powerful professionals.

Im not married so I have no wish to be a Mrs thank you. I do not exist in relation to some individual who happens to have a penis. I have a PhD which I earned so I use the title Dr. I still do post graduate tutoring and this is how my students address me.

@Southwestten I have no problem with people using their own titles.

What I'm asking is do we have to use their titles or can we ignore them freely, acknowledging that they are a symbol of a power differential that is linked to wealth and access to other wealthy people who give them these titles.

I agree, it's an annoying feudal relic.

It's fair enough to award gongs for real achievement, but people can list those as letters after their names, without pretending to be knights and dames and dragons etc.

Just call me Comrade.
Dr Comrade.

Im inclined to think that in an ideal world YANBU - all titles should be redundant. Qualifications can be written using postnomials - as Americans usually do eg Errol Dragon, PhD rather than Dr Dragon. There’s no reason at all for medics or clergy to have a special title for their jobs (after all surgical consultants eschew the Dr).
In our non ideal world, as pp have said a lack of title when speaking can sound more informal than we want or odd. And while titles do exist then there’s certainly no reason for people who’ve earned one to be shy of using it as and when it suits them. DH and I rarely use ours nowadays but I do find it occasionally useful for dealing with sexist gits.

@IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads Given that Comrade already contains D and R, I think you're being a bit greedy to have it twice.

I always felt like I didn't get why people can't just be addressed by their full name in writing formally, and the first name in person both formally and informally.

What's so bad about just calling Barry Smith 'Barry'? That's his name isn't it? If people dk whether Barry is male or female then it doesn't matter until they meet or see him. In which case they'll soon know.

What I'm asking is do we have to use their titles or can we ignore them freely, acknowledging that they are a symbol of a power differential that is linked to wealth and access to other wealthy people who give them these titles.

What happens if people are titled and poor? They do exist though you probably don’t believe me.
Of course you can ignore them freely! What do you think would happen if you did?
I think this thread is a wind-up.

Genuine question, why do medical doctors get a special exemption to your rule?

I agree!

Yes and consultants are normally Mr or female equivalent when you go to hospital! So confusing,

Only if you call me Most Reverend Comrade. 😜 Deal?

You do realise that there's no law that forces you to use anybodies title ?

I'm unlikely to meet Charles Windsor, but that's all he'd get from me. "Good day, Mr. Windsor. I hope you and your family are well".