This too me goes under the category: You don’t get to choose your own nickname.
In Australia most medical doctors you meet call themselves ‘Bruce’ or whatever.
A non-medical doctor insisting on the title being used in normal conversation would probably be called a dickhead, I cant think of a time Ive seen it.
Otara
IMNSH MD O, any doctor (whether of the MD/DO/PhD/etc variety) who insists on being called “Doctor” outside of a professional setting may be automatically assumed to have issues regarding prestige, insecurity, and status. Unless proven otherwise. By at least two mental health professionals.
With and in front of patients in medical settings, I do prefer to be addressed as “Doctor Mercotan”. I of course refer to patients by their titles also. Fair’s fair.
Meanwhile, I continue to struggle to get occasional folks to call me by my first name in social settings. “Doc”, “Doc Q”, “Doctor Qadgop” etc are to be avoided. “Qad”, “Qadgop”, and even the occasional “Qadders” are acceptable. “Qaderonius” is less optimal.
But signing Doctor Qaderonius rather than Doc Qadders on your death threat to the United Nations does make it lot more likely they’ll give in to your demands.
I think we should call them “Hydes”.
Edit - oh yeah, but there are some cultural considerations to keep in mind. In regard to clients from Germany I always start out with Dr. when addressing them if I google and find that is how they are listed on websites.
I used to have a doctor who called me “Ms. <lastname>”. I found this very charming. It’s a nice touch of respect.
Doctors who insist on being called “dr” outside a professional context are douchenuts 99% of the time.
My douchenut cousin is a plastic surgeon and insisted on being announced as “Dr & Mrs” at his wedding, not to mention his father-in-law’s speech about how lucky his daughter was to be married to a surgeon (is he trying to say something about her natural tits?). My sister and I just about died of laughter.
Oh, come on now. I introduce myself as Hippy, but I have a fucking doctorate*. It wasn’t given to me, I earned it. My students and people in professional practice call me Doctor Hollow. I fail to see the douchebaggery in that. I don’t demand that people call me anything but one of my names in a respectful way, but if I wanted to be referred to as “Dr. Hollow” by folks, what’s the issue?
If you prefer people call you whatever, I think that’s fine as long as you’re not taking extreme offense to people getting it wrong initially. I’ve known some “Mrs.” and "Mz"s that insist on you getting this right. How’s that any different?
I don’t insist that people call me anything - they tend to do this. In fact, I’d rather grad students not call me that, because part of their socialization is seeing me as a (slightly more experienced) peer.
But I find it amusing when medical doctors introduce themselves as “Dr. So-and-so.” I know you’re a doctor… but you call me by my first name. You ought to call me Dr. Hollow, then.
- As opposed to a doctorate in fucking.
“Mind if we call you ‘Bruce’ to keep it clear?”
In the case of someone who’s commonly known as “Dr. Firstname,” I wouldn’t necessarily assume it was their own choice to be referred to that way. Maybe other people started calling them that, and it caught on.
[quote=“Wilbo523, post:18, topic:550305”]
I’ve a juris doctor and the only person who calls me doctor is my MD, and she does it as a joke and to piss me off. No lawyer should insist on being called doctor unless they have an MD, including lawyers with LLD degrees, etc.
Doctor IIRC is latin for teacher.
Isn’t that what they already call Greg House?
[quote=“The_Second_Stone, post:30, topic:550305”]
Agreed; it’s not protocol, nor is a JD the terminal degree. In academia I would certainly call a LLD “doctor” - it’s the terminal degree in law, right?
[quote=“Hippy_Hollow, post:32, topic:550305”]
I’ve known one practicing lawyer who had one. He never told anybody, he was “Mr.” I knew because it was in his Martindale Hubbel listing and I worked for him. I’d be a little less bemused if a law professor did this, because academics have their status things. But the mark of status among lawyers is trying cases and winning.
I think the LLD is for people who want to be law professors, but most law professors don’t have them as far as I know.
I’ve never looked into further law degrees, but I think LLD is something of a rarity. JD is terminal in the sense that virtually nobody goes on after that. I don’t know of many schools that offer them.
[quote=“The_Second_Stone, post:33, topic:550305”]
I know my uni had them, because I saw them at commencement. You’d look at the business, government, and law school graduates, and see a handful of people in full doctoral regalia. I’m talking about less than 10 for each school.
I still am unswayed by arguments that people who have earned doctorates shouldn’t refer to themselves, or ask to be referred to as “doctor.”
[quote=“Hippy_Hollow, post:34, topic:550305”]
I don’t think they have any less reason than an MD; they worked harder for their degree in many cases. I just think asking people to elevate you above others by using honorific titles when addressing you makes you a douchebag.
My wife is a dentist (a type of doctor), and other than other dentists who do it for fun, no one ever calls her “doctor.” I’ve only ever heard her refer to herself as “doctor” when calling friends’ receptionists, but that’s only so that they know which “Vazquez” is calling them.
“I still am unswayed by arguments that people who have earned doctorates shouldn’t refer to themselves, or ask to be referred to as “doctor.””
Its a social norm issue at the end of the day. Whether one person thinks they should be able to do it or not is fairly irrelevant with these kinds of etiquette issues.
Otara
Etiquette is all about is all about getting other people to act in a way that is helpful in a polite society. If your argument that something is proper etiquette is unconvincing, then the person continues doing what you consider rude, and you’ve failed.
If, on the other hand, your means of persuasion is to use social intimidation, then you are a bully. And while your bullying may work for a while, eventually someone will stand up to you.
Anyways, the actual etiquette involved in this matter is that people are entitled to be called what they ask to be called. Anything else creates unnecessary tension.
Also, if you judge someone purely based on their preferred appellations, then you are prejudging them. And prejudice is a form of bigotry. I’d rather be with Dr. Sam, even if he is a bit insecure, than Joe the Bigot.
(Don’t you love the loophole that it’s okay to be bigoted towards bigots?)
The problem of course being that people often find arguments ‘unconvincing’ when it comes to etiquette requiring them to do something they dont want to.
‘I earned it’ isnt a particularly convincing argument either after all, because noone inherently ‘earned’ the right to get other people to use that title to address someone, its simply a social convention.
Calling it ‘bullying’ to refuse to use a title to address someone is well, silly. The person insisting on doing so is trying to get people to do something, and they are under no obligation to do so.
Otara
When I was 20 I managed to really piss of an orthopaedic surgeon by calling him by his first name. I shattered my kneecap in a car accident and this was my first checkup after the surgery (also the first time I saw met without being in horrible pain or high as a kite on painkillers).
He came in with a nurse and a med student. Not only did he use my first name right off the bat he used a shortened nickname form of it (which I hate & hadn’t used since grade school). :mad: So I just started using his first name. He didn’t like that. 
He actually had the gall to get all indignant and lecture me “I don’t recall giving you permission to use my first name!”. I smiled and told him I didn’t remember giving him permission to use my first name either.
The student looked terrified. The nurse looked like she was trying so hard to keep a straight face & not laugh I was afraid blood would start coming out of mouth. He was in his late 50s and one of the top orthos in the area (which would explain how he get’s away with acting like a total ass).