# What does "Doc. Dr." mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 21, 2023, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-doc-dr-mean/981449 "2023-03-21T16:52:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [March 21, 2023, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-doc-dr-mean/981449/1 "2023-03-21T16:52:41Z")
I’ve started getting YouTube ads for somebody who identifies themselves with the abbreviation Doc. Dr… I understand the Dr. stands for Doctor but what does the Doc. mean in this context? The ads are very unclear but I think this person is a plastic surgeon. I also believe they may be located in Turkey. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2023, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-doc-dr-mean/981449/2 "2023-03-21T16:59:22Z")
So far as I know it’s just an unofficial abbreviation for doctor. Like a nickname. ---
**Author:** ![Moris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moris/32/2846_2.png) [@Moris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moris)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2023, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-doc-dr-mean/981449/3 "2023-03-21T17:07:04Z")
Probably docent, an academic rank. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2023, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-doc-dr-mean/981449/4 "2023-03-21T17:09:32Z")
Definitely something Turkish. The “c” isn’t a “c”, but a “c-ish thing with a squiggly bit”. [https://www.google.com/search?q=Doç.%20Dr&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-m](https://www.google.com/search?q=Do%C3%A7.%20Dr&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-m) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2023, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-doc-dr-mean/981449/5 "2023-03-21T17:12:14Z")
It’s actually " Doç. Dr." Doç. with the cedilla does mean Doctor in Turkish, but when used together with Dr. it seems to have the connotation of assistant professor. I found a number of plastic sugeons through Google describing themselves that way. Or it could mean that he has a bad case of loving you. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7z9DwMKvqcc/hqdefault.jpg "Robert Palmer - Bad Case Of Loving You Lyrics") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z9DwMKvqcc) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2023, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-doc-dr-mean/981449/6 "2023-03-21T17:13:54Z")
See, if you hadn’t been searching for that Youtube video you could have beat me to the post. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2023, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-doc-dr-mean/981449/7 "2023-03-21T18:03:43Z")
I was chagrined at first, but then I decided it made a nice topper. Besides, I had to look up what a squiggly bit was called. More digging tells me it’s a cedilla in shape but not really in sound. Oxford gives a secondary definition of “a mark similar to a cedilla written under _s_ in Turkish and other languages.” That’s kind of a weird definition since ç is literally the fourth letter of the Turkish alphabet and you’d think it would get its props. The Turkish ç “represents the voiceless postalveolar affricate /tʃ/ (as in English “church”).” The French ç is by contrast the voiceless alveolar silibant. Neither one would make for a good band name. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2023, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-doc-dr-mean/981449/8 "2023-03-21T18:43:30Z")
_I said Doctor (doctor)_ _Mr. M.D. (doctor)_ _Can you tell me_ _what’s ailing me_ _He said_ _Evet evet evet evet evet_ ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2023, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-doc-dr-mean/981449/9 "2023-03-21T18:45:00Z")
An old pal of mine, Max Dagobert, MD just went by MD squared. ---
**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:** [March 22, 2023, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-doc-dr-mean/981449/10 "2023-03-22T05:03:37Z")
Now if he’d been a mathametician, he’d’ve gone by (MD)^2. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-doc-dr-mean/981449/11 "2023-03-22T06:07:58Z")
A search suggests the word is doçent which is cognate with English docent but basically means “associate professor,” e.g. a professor who doesn’t have the time invested to be a full professor but is above an assistant professor (yardımcı doçent) who does not have tenure. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-doc-dr-mean/981449/12 "2023-03-22T14:47:52Z")
“Doctor, Doctor! Can’t you hear me wheezing, wheezing? Oh, Doctor, Doctor Is this hypoxia I’m feeling?” ---
**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:** [March 22, 2023, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-doc-dr-mean/981449/13 "2023-03-22T16:59:54Z")
Doc Dr = Doctor of Doctory. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-doc-dr-mean/981449/14 "2023-03-22T17:09:21Z")
I found that in Germany, a title like “Doctor” in multiplied if one has obtained multiple doctorates. So a person would be titled Doctor Doctor. From [Wikipedia: German Honorifics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_honorifics) “Unlike the English-language usage, _Doktor_ may be repeated for double doctorates (_Doktor Doktor_).” ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-doc-dr-mean/981449/15 "2023-03-22T18:02:32Z")
I was thinking it’s a situation like Major Major Major Major in _Catch 22_. This person’s title and name is Doctor Doctor. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-doc-dr-mean/981449/16 "2023-03-22T18:10:35Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > “Unlike the English-language usage, _Doktor_ may be repeated for double doctorates (_Doktor Doktor_).” I once worked with a man whose last name was Doktor. He was not any other kind of doctor. Maybe that’s why he was such a nice guy. > [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > A search suggests the word is doçent which is cognate with English docent but basically means “associate professor,” e.g. a professor who doesn’t have the time invested to be a full professor but is above an assistant professor (yardımcı doçent) who does not have tenure. I think you’re right. I was sure I saw “assistant” professor in Google searches, but that seems to appear only as an earlier title for people who are currently “associate” professors. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-doc-dr-mean/981449/17 "2023-03-22T19:48:35Z")
There are multiple people who go by Dr. Doctor in the U.S., including a family medicine doc in Florida.