AIBU to want to take my degree certificate to the bank?

[DrTrillianAstra]

And make them change all my details to Dr Trillian?

(not Dr Trillian of course, actually Dr Realname, but you know what I mean )

Or is it too unbelievably poncey?

But it's not fraudulent if you have a science PhD, Highlander. Dr is the term for an extended postgraduate degree in any subject - medical doctors (physicians) in the Middle Ages all had PG degrees, and we MD, so Dr was an appropriate title (think this is still true in the US). Medical doctors here call themselves Dr when they have MB ChB degrees - they are technically Bachelors, and Dr is a courtesy title.

That's why surgeons revert - it wasn't traditionally a university subject, and so they are marking their distinction from physicians.

I do see that it's confusing, though, and why you'd avoid it on flights, etc - but it is most definitely not fraudulent!

thedolly - it's not necessarily showing off - I use it, like Fennel, as it avoids being defined by marital status and looks and sounds nicer than Ms. I also like the gender neutrality of it.

Are you gender neutral Habbibu ?

Not in person, no! But I like that people don't know by my title whether I'm male or female. not sure why, tbh, just do.

You mean you like pretending to be a man? I bet most people think of Drs as male.

Now you see if anything was going to make me wheel out the 'Dr' it would be a daft comment like that...

Me too.

No, of course that's not what I meant. What a ludicrous comment. I meant I like the fact that people can't pre-judge me as a woman if I choose to use Dr. And there are more female medical doctors than male (not sure about PhDs, etc), so "most people" would be mistaken.

I think the Fallen Madonna was referring to your comment, thedolly, not mine.

It was your daft comment I was referring to thedolly...

xpost with Habb - who was quite right

Habbibu so you do know why then

It's daft to delude people of your sex and think that it will make a difference to how they perceive you.

I use a combination of Dr Maidenname, Mrs Marriedname and (very occasionally) Dr. Marriedname. I do like confusing people. I also like it when people call up looking for Dr Marriedname, and I ask them 'Which one?'

Go for it, Trillian - I have been upgraded on the basis of it before. I do have friends who reckon that you get charged more as people think you are well-off though.

DH was once on his way to Europe when he was a postdoc - he yomped up to the check-in desk in leather bikers jacket, jeans and para boots and he swears he saw the staffs' faces fall. They'd upgraded him and he really wasn't what they were expecting......

Why is it showing off to use a title, when you've worked bloody hard for 4+ years to achieve that title? If you insist on every person you know calling you by that title, and correct anyone who gets it wrong, plus inform everyone you meet that you have the title, that's a different matter. Merely using your correct title on a bank card or on forms is not showing off!

My married friends expect everyone to call them by their new surnames and make sure they are Mrs, so why the hell shouldn't I be called Dr after nearly killing myself to achieve my degree? Is it showing off to call yourself Mrs after you get married? Or Sir if you're knighted?

Sorry, this attitude really annoys me (esp. from a couple of married friends and family who REFUSE to call me Dr, but for some reason use my fiance's surname to address letters to me - because my doctorate is showing off, but getting engaged/married and wearing a ring to show the world isn't?!)

George Eliot got it wrong then, eh? I've been called worse than daft, I guess, and lived to tell the tale.

I'm sorry if my attitude annoys you. I also worked reasonably hard, but I don't necessarily see calling myself 'Dr' as a reward for that. For me, it is a professionally relevant title only,and therefore I wouldn't use it outside that. And since I no longer inhabit academia, having moved down the food chain into schools, it is irrelevant. It is also irrelevant to my children's school and to ntl, and wheeling it out to make a point to them is IMO. I don't really have an issue with people using it as a mtter of course. But because of the 'it's so useful if people are patronising you' attitude, I'm reluctant to buy into it.

And FWIW, calling oneself 'Sir' would be much, much more show-offy...

I would certainly use Dr if I had it. Partly to avoid the idiotic need to choose between Ms Miss Mrs, and partly bcs as Habb says it is good not to be required to display your geneder in your title (which isn't the same as wanting to pretend to be a man)

Whenever an internet form has a drop-down choice of titles I always choose the daftest Lord or Reverend, etc. bce the business of titles is so daft on the whole (apart from in certain profesional circs of course). So DS2 got a lovely poster of Darwin's Tree of Life from the OU a while ago, addressed to The Reverend Small Worm.

The Hamleys website has an excellent range of titles from which to choose...

Not saying you're daft Habbibu, how could you be, you've got a PhD and apparently write as well as George Eliot.

very easily, evidently.

DrTrillian, congratulations! Get thee to the bank. I was too lazy to change my existing cards/documents when I got my PhD, but have put my title on new ones. Of course I am now being punished for my hubris because the new credit card proudly proclaiming "Dr" is an AmEx, which fewer and fewer retailers seem to accept.

Have never been upgraded on a flight. Will try Wing Commander next time. Off now to invest in new shoes.

I don't think it's poncey at all Dr T. You have worked v hard and earnt it!
There are some rather daft comments on this thread, particularly the ones about deluding people about your sex as people assume that Drs are male!

OMG doesn't anyone have a sense of humour anymore?

Do it..

my sister and her husband are both Dr & Dr opinionatedsisterandbrotherinlaw.

you are an intellectual! wear the badge with pride.
God knows those professors do...

My credit card company accidentally issued my card in the name of Dr BodenGroupie. I never bothered complaining! I was proud to "be" a doctor and so should you be.

I will restrain myself from my usual rant about how success scares people in this country