# Why not "Mister Watson"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 7, 2015, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787 "2015-10-07T04:22:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787/1 "2015-10-07T04:22:49Z")
In the Sherlock Holmes stories, we often read about Doctor Watson. But my understanding is that in England, one addresses a medical doctor as Mister. Why did Doyle never refer to “Mister Watson”? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787/2 "2015-10-07T04:25:48Z")
Doctors are “Dr.”. \*Surgeons \*are “Mr.” ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787/3 "2015-10-07T07:04:04Z")
What \*\*Alessan \*\*said. Senior surgeons like to be called Mr, Mrs, Miss, or Ms, to taste, but it’s generally safer to use Dr is you don’t know. Surgeons aren’t surprised if patients don’t know and call them Dr whereas medical specialists really do not like being called Mr! Incidentally, the use of Mr is a great piece of British inverted snobbery harking back to the time when surgeons were “barber-surgeons” who [did not have a medical degree](https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/patients/the-surgical-team/qualifications-of-a-surgeon#three). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787/4 "2015-10-07T16:28:21Z")
Didn’t know about the surgeon-doctor distinction. Interesting. Anglican clergymen were (or still are?) also called “Mr.” and not “Rev.,” as they are in the U.S. Example: Mr. Collins in _Pride and Prejudice._ ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787/5 "2015-10-07T16:49:19Z")
Mr. Watson was helping Alexander Graham Bell invent the telephone, and therefore on the wrong side of the Atlantic to help Holmes. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787/6 "2015-10-07T23:15:21Z")
When my father was practising in England he attained consultant status and moved from Dr X to Mr x. New nameboards were painted (this was in the 70s) . We always knew his mentors in training as Mr Y and Mr Z ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787/7 "2015-10-07T23:59:35Z")
That must be a Britishism, because my American surgeon father was definitely titled Dr. … ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787/8 "2015-10-08T00:01:53Z")
Hell, even veterinarians, eye doctors and dentists are customarily entitled to “Dr.” in the U.S. Any medical professional with a degree over a bachelor’s is, IME. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787/9 "2015-10-08T00:26:45Z")
_Chiropractors_ call themselves ‘doctor.’ In the US, I don’t think there’s anything illegal about calling yourself ‘Dr.’ Maya Angelou prefers to be called "Dr. Angelou’ for whatever reason. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787/10 "2015-10-08T00:31:53Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > _Chiropractors_ call themselves ‘doctor.’ In the US, I don’t think there’s anything illegal about calling yourself ‘Dr.’ Maya Angelou prefers to be called "Dr. Angelou’ for whatever reason. Call me ignorant, not having ever been to a chiropractor. I thought there were “real” doctor ones and “all natural everything about you is in your spine” fakeys. Is that not true? ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787/11 "2015-10-08T01:09:54Z")
Is he, in fact, referred to in the stories as “Dr. Watson”? I seem to recall him just being addressed as “Watson”. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787/12 "2015-10-08T02:03:11Z")
Yes, occasionally Holmes introduces him to others this way. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787/13 "2015-10-08T02:35:53Z")
> [@MarcusF](#): > > Surgeons aren’t surprised if patients don’t know and call them Dr whereas medical specialists really do not like being called Mr! [No, they don’t.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL7yMTlf1Rg) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787/14 "2015-10-08T02:40:46Z")
As others have noted, surgery was once performed largely by barbers. The red and white pole at your neighborhood barber shop represents the blood that used to be part of a barber’s trade. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787/15 "2015-10-08T02:53:43Z")
My guess would be it’s because theirs was not a professional relationship. Watson was Holmes’ friend/assistant/underling, and therefore addressing him as “Dr.” would be incongruous. Imagine that your best friend and next door neighbor were a doctor whose first name was John Smith, and instead of calling him John you always addressed him as Dr. Smith, even while sharing a meal at your house or playing a game of cards. Same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787/16 "2015-10-08T02:55:19Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Call me ignorant, not having ever been to a chiropractor. I thought there were “real” doctor ones and “all natural everything about you is in your spine” fakeys. > > Is that not true? Not true. Like homeopathics, they’re all fakeys. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787/17 "2015-10-08T03:51:44Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > My guess would be it’s because theirs was not a professional relationship. Watson was Holmes’ friend/assistant/underling, and therefore addressing him as “Dr.” would be incongruous. But that is how he is sometimes addressed. Re-read the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787/18 "2015-10-08T04:01:12Z")
It’s been quite a while since I read any of the Holmes books, but didn’t Holmes usually refer to Watson with the honorific when in the company of others? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787/19 "2015-10-08T04:18:22Z")
Yes. For example, from “A Scandal in Bohemia”: \*“Pray take a seat,” said Holmes. “This is my friend and colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me in my cases…” \* From “The Red-Headed League”: \*“Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to recommence your narrative. I ask you, not merely because my friend, Dr. Watson, has not heard the opening part, but also because the peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every possible detail from your lips…” \* From “The Speckled Band”: \*“Good-morning, madam,” said Holmes cheerily. “My name is Sherlock Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as freely as before myself…" \* ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787/20 "2015-10-08T04:33:10Z")
Thanks. I appreciate the confirmation. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-mister-watson/733787.md?page=2)