# How much longer can they keep calling her "Hillary"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 24, 2016, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597 "2016-10-24T15:08:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597/21 "2016-10-24T17:39:19Z")
I too noticed this a few months ago and have been more cognizant of what I call each of them. Where I say Trump, I try to also say Clinton, and where I call him Donald, I allow myself to use Hillary if its more natural-sounding. I think there’s a underlying way people talk about women that they wouldn’t do to men and I won’t let myself be dragged down into doing the same. ---
**Author:** ![squidfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@squidfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squidfood)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597/22 "2016-10-24T17:43:37Z")
Don’t forget that “Hillary” has been in common use for her since 1992, and moreso since the HillaryCare debacle. The spouse of a president is generally know by their first name; I look forward to President Clinton and Bill. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597/23 "2016-10-24T17:45:36Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I’m surprised Hillary didn’t launch her campaign using her hyphenated name-- Hillary Rodham-Clinton, with the request to media that she be called “President Rodham-Clinton” once she took office. Would be a nice distinguishing feature, plus a nod to her own roots. She was originally HR even when married, then HC when Bill Clinton was running to regain the AR governorship after losing it, then HRC as first lady, but back to HC since her Senate run. She doesn’t seem herself to have used the full ‘Hillary Rodham Clinton’ much, as opposed to the acronym, in years. Anyway I can’t see people spitting out ‘President Rodham Clinton’ every time for at least 4 yrs and a wise decision not to ask them to. It’s going to be President Clinton where decorum requires it, and Hillary otherwise. I don’t see the Madonna-type handle fading away altogether, I disagree with those who predict that. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597/24 "2016-10-24T17:58:16Z")
> [@yanceylebeef](#): > > This is just standard GOP tactics. **President Obama was Barack** , the Democratic party is the Democrat Party. Sometimes just Barack - often derisively shortened to Barry - but just as often he was Barack _ **Hussein** _ Obama (or BHO). It depended on what he was being demonized for. Likewise with Clinton - she’s been known to the country as Hillary since she was First Lady. Regardless of her preference, it’s a smart move by the campaign to embrace it rather than to (attempt to) insist on a more formal address. We’re more or less accustomed to talking about serious people by last name, and that leaves an opening to imply somebody isn’t serious by referring to them that way. By adopting Hillary as her brand, Clinton disarms this line of attack by opponents. Trump took the opposite tack, and it’s not working. he clearly was rankled when she called him “Donald” during the debates, and you just have to read the Elections forum here to see people referring to him as “Don the Con,” “Donald,” etc. Hell, newspaper articles frequently mention that he’s always referred to as Mr. Trump. When everybody knows that, implicitly dismissing him by using his first name is more effective. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597/25 "2016-10-24T18:10:19Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I think it’s partly because she’s a woman, and you do see women referred to by their first names a lot of times when you would see men referred to by their last names. > > However, it’s also a new casualness, for which the Baby Boomers are to blame. > > When I was a child, it was VERBOTEN to refer to an adult by his or her first name. A very close family friend might get to be an honorary Aunt or Uncle Firstname, but that was as close as it got. I remember feeling very grown up when I was in high school and people in their 20s started introducing themselves to me by their first names. > > Baby Boomers had a “thing” about getting old, though. They were the generation who said “Never trust anyone under thirty,” and when they hit middle age, they were in some serious denial. Part of it involved having children call them by their first names. > > Now hardly anyone uses honorifics anymore. Medical doctors insist on them, and Ph.Ds get called “Dr.,” or “Prof.” by students in a classroom, but they still have to face small children calling them by their first names outside of it. Classroom teachers have maintained being called “Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms. Lastname,” but I wonder sometimes how long that will last. I hear kinds in preschools call teachers by their first names all the time. In the one where I work, it’s “Miss Rivkah,” or whatever, which is more formal than just being Rivkah, but it’s no “Mrs. Maccaby.” I’ve very rarely been called “Mrs. Maccaby.” The most I was ever called by an honorific was when I was in the military and I was “Specialist.” > > So I think two things have come together: a generation at voting age who is unfamiliar with using honorifics, and calls virtually everyone by their first name, and sexism that dictates that women aren’t called by their last name alone. > > With a dose of distinguishing her from her husband. She was already “Hillary” in the press as First Lady, which was a different thing from the younger Bush, who was largely unknown by the whole country during his father’s administration-- and don’t forget, during his campaign and administration, he was frequently referred to by the nickname “W.” Or “Dubya.” Not even doctors anymore! I first noticed that, as my children grew older, their pediatricians went from being called Dr. Lastname to being called Dr. Firstname (Dr. J, Dr. Mary) and that made sense because…well, no, it didn’t make sense, but I guess maybe they thought they were humanizing the office. But the last couple of times I have been to my own doctor, she has also been referred to as Dr. Firstname. I think that is weird. It’s one thing if you have, as one of the pediatricians did, a difficult eastern European last name full of too many consonants and not enough vowels. But now it just seems to be a thing. But yet, the PAs are called Mr. and Mrs. Lastname. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597/26 "2016-10-24T18:13:03Z")
> [@Victor\_Charlie](#): > > To answer the OP’s question, we’ll stop calling her Hillary on November 8th at 8pm Pacific Standard Time. Perhaps even an hour or two before. Yes, it will then be “Madame President” (elect) . ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597/27 "2016-10-24T18:14:25Z")
> [@yanceylebeef](#): > > This is just standard GOP tactics. President Obama was Barack, the Democratic party is the Democrat Party. > > . There’s nothing wrong with “the Democrat Party”- unless _you_ let the GOP make it into a slur. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597/28 "2016-10-24T18:17:10Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > That’s just the asshole wing of the party. It’s like writing “Amerika.” Tells you all you need to know about a person. Yep. Or "sheeples’ or "Tea-baggers’ . ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597/29 "2016-10-24T18:17:38Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > There’s nothing wrong with “the Democrat Party”- unless _you_ let the GOP make it into a slur. It’s their intent to be considered ignorant. I’m willing to comply ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597/30 "2016-10-24T18:19:04Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > It’s their intent to be considered ignorant. I’m willing to comply Hey, back when I was a active campaigner, we Democrats used “the Democrat Party” at times. Really, there’s nothing wrong with it. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597/31 "2016-10-24T18:25:04Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Hey, back when I was a active campaigner, we Democrats used “the Democrat Party” at times. Really, there’s nothing wrong with it. That’s not how slurs work. When words are intended as slurs (as most of the Republican/conservative use of “Democrat” as an adjective is intended), they’re slurs. This goes for racial slurs and religious slurs as well. I think it’s rude and obnoxious to use slurs, and I feel fine about calling people out on rude and obnoxious behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597/32 "2016-10-24T18:29:11Z")
I have grappled with this issue. I normally refer to people by their last name when writing about them. But I often encounter situations where calling her Clinton would be ambiguous. I don’t like to call her Senator Clinton or Secretary Clinton unless I’m referring to something she did when she held those titles (and I don’t refer to him as President Clinton unless I’m referring to something he did when he held that title). Calling her Mrs Clinton would be its own issue. So, by default, I often end up calling her Hillary Clinton or just Hillary. I’m not pleased with this but it’s the best I’ve got for now. This is just one additional minor reason why I’ll be happy after Inauguration Day; I’ll be able to call her President Clinton or just the President. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597/33 "2016-10-24T18:34:00Z")
Her campaign logo is an “H,” I don’t see what the fuss is about. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597/34 "2016-10-24T18:46:09Z")
It’s definitely not a sexist thing (though I’m sure there are sexists out there calling her Hillary for exactly that reason). She’s embraced it as a brand. But once she’s in office, it’ll be President Clinton, and I doubt there’ll be much confusion as to who people are talking about. ---
**Author:** ![ghettomotels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8baadc/32.png) [@ghettomotels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ghettomotels)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597/35 "2016-10-24T18:46:19Z")
Overusage of first-names is very common in American culture, probably slightly more in the midwest & rust belt regions (don’t have the exact data in front of me but it’s somewhere). Think of how many times you’ve had a conversation with someone in person and they’ve used your name at least 3 or 4 times when you were right there in a span of not even a minute. Or at a dinner table, and you hear names over & over in conversation. Then you have those who begin a statement with a person’s name, somehow weave it in while asking a question or in a short conversation, then close the statement with the person’s name. Example. So Billie, did you ever see that movie about that guy who invented windshield wipers, Billie, what did you think of it Billie? I’m guessing Kaine is one of those. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597/36 "2016-10-24T19:04:26Z")
We’ll be lucky to get some folks to call her Hillary. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597/37 "2016-10-24T19:09:30Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > It’s definitely not a sexist thing (though I’m sure there are sexists out there calling her Hillary for exactly that reason). She’s embraced it as a brand. But once she’s in office, it’ll be President Clinton, and I doubt there’ll be much confusion as to who people are talking about. She’s embraced it as a brand, but she really didn’t have any choice. I do think there’s an issue of sexism\* here, but that Clinton more or less inoculated herself against it by adopting it as her brand. The alternative was to fight it the way “Mr. Trump” does, and her campaign is too smart to take that route. - We implicitly talk about women, regardless of qualifications, less seriously than we talk about men. Ask any woman university professor about people who refer to her male colleagues as Dr. and to her as Ms. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597/38 "2016-10-24T19:16:13Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > That’s not how slurs work. When words are intended as slurs (as most of the Republican/conservative use of “Democrat” as an adjective is intended), they’re slurs. This goes for racial slurs and religious slurs as well. I think it’s rude and obnoxious to use slurs, and I feel fine about calling people out on rude and obnoxious behavior. If the Democrats took it and embraced it, it would not longer be a slur. \*Fuck them. \* Why are we letting the GOP decide what we can call ourselves? Oh and i need to add “Killary” to this list of things that mean they are morons. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597/39 "2016-10-24T19:33:52Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > If the Democrats took it and embraced it, it would not longer be a slur. \*Fuck them. \* Why are we letting the GOP decide what we can call ourselves? > > Oh and i need to add “Killary” to this list of things that mean they are morons. Who’s letting the GOP decide? The vast majority of Democratic voters use “Democratic” as the adjective form, as does all official party literature. Democratic voters have decided that “Democratic” is the correct adjective form. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597/40 "2016-10-24T20:05:01Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Who’s letting the GOP decide? The vast majority of Democratic voters use “Democratic” as the adjective form, as does all official party literature. Democratic voters have decided that “Democratic” is the correct adjective form. Most people would say “The vast majority of Democrats use “Democratic” …”. I am a Democrat. Sure, “Democratic” is the correct adjective form. So fucking what? I also say “Dems” as a shortening. The Democratic party uses the term “Democrat” all the time. Why let the OP turn it into a slur? By doing that you’re letting them win. Youre doing their job for them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-can-they-keep-calling-her-hillary/769597.md?page=3)