# I pit "doctor". **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 28, 2006, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672 "2006-04-28T23:51:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672/21 "2006-04-29T06:19:16Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > I have noticed this with a few other titles or nouns as well. And yes, I find it VERY annoying, more of that dumbing down of America. Speaking of dumbing down, I didn’t answer the main question. What I meant to say was that I had seen it with other nouns and titles, but not this one. Weird, and yes, it would bug me as much as the rest of the careless treatment our language get these days. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672/22 "2006-04-29T06:58:34Z")
I’ve never, ever heard “doctor” used this way. If I ever did, I’d instantly deride whoever used it that way. Only “mommy” and “daddy” can be used this way, and I don’t have kids. The only one who makes me say “daddy” is… well that’s none of your business. ---
**Author:** ![Corrvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbce88/32.png) [@Corrvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corrvin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672/23 "2006-04-29T08:37:25Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I’ve never, ever heard “doctor” used this way. If I ever did, I’d instantly deride whoever used it that way. > > Only “mommy” and “daddy” can be used this way, and I don’t have kids. The only one who makes me say “daddy” is… well that’s none of your business. Well, I’d hope that if there’s only one person you’ll say “daddy” for, it’s your father! That said, I’d like to be pedantic and mention that when you use “Mommy” without “the” or “your” or “a” in front of it, you’re using it as a proper noun, not a common noun. Compare “When Mrs. Johnson has her baby, she’ll be a mommy” to “Ask Mommy what kind of pizza she wants.” Calling a doctor simply “Doctor” with no article is making his or her title into a nickname. I don’t see the big deal about it all, really; haven’t we been calling doctors “Doc” and psychiatrists “Shrink” for a while now? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672/24 "2006-04-29T08:43:53Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I have never ever heard this usage in my life. Me either. WTF? Do you people go to a pediatricians that’re desperate for patients? ---
**Author:** ![Kiminy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Kiminy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiminy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672/25 "2006-04-29T12:16:17Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > It reminds me of cooking shows where they treat the title “chef” as a personal name. “Chef told me…” It just occurred to me that “Coach” is used this way as well. “Coach says to run five laps.” ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672/26 "2006-04-29T12:20:48Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > It reminds me of cooking shows where they treat the title “chef” as a personal name. “Chef told me…” Shouldn’t that be “[Chef!](http://www.jumpedtheshark.com/c/chef.htm) told me…” Every episode I watched of _Chef!_ had the title character being addressed by his subordinates by his job title, without the article. ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672/27 "2006-04-29T12:53:50Z")
“doctor” just sounds weird to me. I’ve never heard it used that way. “coach” annoys me because, first of all, it sounds like you’re trying to make sure everyone knows you’re an athlete. You have a coach. BFD. Second of all, there are like fourteen coaches at my school. “coach wants to see you” means nothing to me. “Mr. so-and-so wants to see you” tells me a lot more. Also, people who don’t play sports and have coaches as teachers call them “coach” too! that makes no sense to me. What, is he your British lit coach? your algebra coach? I can understand using it to address your coach, but when referring to him, call him “coach hardbody” or “Mr. hardbody” or “my coach” ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672/28 "2006-04-29T13:29:32Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Actually, they aren’t. The most common usage in North America is that only medical doctors use their title socially. Oh really? I have never run into someone with a PhD, LLD, DVM, DDS, or any of the other doctorate degrees being called Mr. (or Ms. or Mrs. as the case may be). If you have a doctorate degree then you are properly called **Dr.** so-and-so. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672/29 "2006-04-29T13:51:28Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > Oh really? I have never run into someone with a PhD, LLD, DVM, DDS, or any of the other doctorate degrees being called Mr. (or Ms. or Mrs. as the case may be). If you have a doctorate degree then you are properly called **Dr.** so-and-so. In the US, certainly, the typical case is that medical doctors are addressed as “Dr. So-and-so” at all times, and others with doctorates are usually considered pretentious if they use it in **social** situations. Professional use may vary - I noted that at the undergraduate university I went to, instructors who had Ph.Ds or other doctorates but not a professorship were addressed as “Dr. so-and-so”, so the title of “Prof. so-and-so” was more highly valued. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672/30 "2006-04-29T13:53:53Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > WTF? Do you people go to a pediatricians that’re desperate for patients? I’ve (in a professional capacity, I work in a medical center and have to call other doctors’ offices) heard this from Infectious Disease specialty offices and Family Practice offices, actually. Haven’t had to call other offices with any frequency, so I don’t know if it’s profession-specific or what. Now that it was mentioned, it does sound an awful lot like someone is telling a child that “mommy” or “daddy” will do something soon. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672/31 "2006-04-29T17:09:39Z")
> [@mischievous](#): > > It’s just my little anecdote regarding the incorrect usage of “Dr.” A friend of mine has a Ph D in something-or-other which I can’t remember at the moment… This is something I didn’t know about him until about six months after meeting him. I said “So, you’re a doctor!”, and he said “Yeah, but not the good kind”. Apparently, that’s what his mother says. I work in a hospital where I am surrounded by people either PhD or MD or PharmD, etc. We don’t call anyone “Doctor”. It’s “Joe” or “Donna” or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672/32 "2006-04-29T17:24:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Doctor: Mr. Bertenshaw? > > Mr. B: Me, Doctor? > > Doctor: No, me doctor, you Mr. Bertenshaw. > > Mr. B: My wife, doctor… > > Doctor: No, your wife patient. > > Sister: Come with me, please. > > Mr. B: Me, Sister? > > Doctor: No, she Sister, me doctor, you Mr. Bertenshaw. And so forth… My ex-fiancée was born in California, lived in Washington, and now lives in Tennessee. She uses Doctor in the way stated in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672/33 "2006-04-29T17:58:51Z")
> [@GingerOfTheNorth](#): > > A friend of mine has a Ph D in something-or-other which I can’t remember at the moment… This is something I didn’t know about him until about six months after meeting him. I said “So, you’re a doctor!”, and he said “Yeah, but not the good kind”. Apparently, that’s what his mother says. > > I work in a hospital where I am surrounded by people either PhD or MD or PharmD, etc. We don’t call anyone “Doctor”. It’s “Joe” or “Donna” or whatever. My dad is a PharmD, and he’s Andy to his subordinates unless he doesn’t like you, in which case he’s Dr. R. The only time I’ve called a JD (juris doctor, or lawyer) “doctor” is because these people were university faculty where the culture is to call all faculty “doctor” whether they have a PhD or not. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672/34 "2006-04-29T18:39:52Z")
> [@Kiminy](#): > > It just occurred to me that “Coach” is used this way as well. “Coach says to run five laps.” Also titles of clergy in various churches (in both the “religious denomination” and “specific building” senses of the word _church_). “Father wants more volunteers for the choir.” “Preacher is really opposed to homosexual marriage.” “Parson will be by for chicken and potato salad after Sunday’s service.” Even though there are many priests/ministers/rabbis, there is basically only one that the members of a particular congregation need concern themselves with, and that’s why just plain “Father” (as opposed to “Father Flannery”) is necessary for his parishioners, just as a boy learns that of all the mothers in the world, there’s only one he’s to call “Mommy”. As physicians have come to occupy a societal prominence formerly reserved for clergy, the “Doctor” usage so beautifully pitted in the OP has gained increasing acceptance. I remember reading a column (I think it was by Richard Cohen, but I’m by no means sure of that) in which one especially pompous man of medicine defended the term by saying it was no more necessary for his patients and staffers to refer to him as “the doctor” than it would be for an evangelist to speak of “the Jesus”, as the identity of the specific doctor in the first case should be as self-evident as the identity of the particular Jesus in the second. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672/35 "2006-04-29T18:49:18Z")
> [@I Love Me](#): > > This has been bugging me for YEARS except my particular bete noir is: “We bought it for **baby**.” or, “ **Baby** is one year old today.” > > Drives me nucking futz! PLEASE either use an article with ‘baby’ (“a baby”, “the baby”) or a possessive (“my baby”, “their baby”), or SOMETHING other than just “baby”. I hate this usage so much that I won’t purchase cards or other gifts that have “for baby” or “baby’s first …” printed on them. It sounds stupid, and appears (to me, anyway) to signal an emotional disconnect from the baby. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672/36 "2006-04-29T18:53:09Z")
_YES CHEF!_ Oh, sorry… 😃 Our vet used to be called just “doc” by everybody, including his staff, but it was because his last name was vextremely difficult to pronounce. Doc was like his name, and he used it too! If he left you a phone message, he would say “This is Doc, about the test results…” and you knew exactly who it was. But use of just “doctor” at any other time would drive me nuts… ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672/37 "2006-04-29T18:56:30Z")
I have heard the “Doctor” usage, mostly from older nurses. It sounds like reverence to me, and I don’t like it. As to the whole Ph.D./MD thing, if I am in a situation where an MD is being called “Dr.” I think I should be called “Dr.” too. So in the jury situation that **mischievous** mentioned, she was absolutely correct, IMHO. On the other hand, I would feel pretentious using “Dr.” in social situations, but come to think of it, “Ms. Lastname” feels pretentious, too. In social situations, I go by my first name. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672/38 "2006-04-29T19:29:35Z")
I use this myself when directly addressing someone (e.g., “Well, Doctor, will I live?”), but I’ve never heard it used in the third person (e.g., “Doctor will be back at noon”). It just sounds silly. > [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Actually, they aren’t. The most common usage in North America is that only medical doctors use their title socially. In a professional setting, I address both MDs and PhDs as “Doctor.” In a social setting, I address both by their first names. No difference. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672/39 "2006-04-30T01:27:10Z")
> [@Kiminy](#): > > It just occurred to me that “Coach” is used this way as well. “Coach says to run five laps.” Yeah, but “Coach” is more of a nickname of honor, he’s a father figure to many boys, to them, saying “Coach” is like a stand in for “second dad”, or how soldiers use “Sarge” as a nickname for the head of their unit. A doctor isn’t in this position with most people, they come in to see him only when sick or to have a check up, it’s not like he’s an intregal part of their lives and in a position of authority, or has a relationship with them beyond the professional one. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672/40 "2006-04-30T01:46:44Z")
_Little Shop of Horrors_ “I’m sorry doctah! I’m sorry doctah!!” /\*Little Shop [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-doctor/354672.md?page=3)