[lit-ideas] Re: On Names and Respect
- From: Judith Evans <judithevans001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 6 Apr 2009 22:43:28 +0000 (GMT)
There was a different kind of snobbery (not exactly reverse) at Manchester when
I was an undergraduate, John (and probably at Oxford too); we were advised to
say, if in doubt, 'Mr', on the grounds that Doctors wouldn't mind being called
Mr and 'Misters' would be embarrassed by 'Doctor'. As I recall it, in practice
we said 'you'.
(I think that advice came from someone in History, where Ph.D.s were the norm.)
Judy Evans, Cardiff
--- On Mon, 6/4/09, John Wager <jwager@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> From: John Wager <jwager@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: On Names and Respect
> To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Date: Monday, 6 April, 2009, 10:09 PM
> Paul Stone wrote:
> > All through University -- and that's a LONG
> through in my case -- we
> > referred to our profs by whatever they referred to
> themselves. One
> > prof came in the first day and said "Hi, I'm
> [insert last name only]',
> > so that's what we called him. Another referred to
> herself in third
> > person as KQ, so that's what we called her. Behind
> their backs, we
> > usually referred to them by last name only, and some
> times derisively
> > so, but almost always in those cases, it was prefaced
> by a 'fucking'
> > or 'that asshole'.
> >
>
> I recall one incident in graduate school where an
> undergraduate student addressed his professor as
> "Doctor [Smith]. The good doctor abruptly turned on the
> student and said that he was NOT a dentist, and was NOT to
> be called a "Doctor." He was "MR."
> [Smith]. I found out that this was the preferred title for
> most of the department members. This was at a
> "top-tier" graduate school where there was a kind
> of reverse snobbery, based on the following. At some
> ("lesser") schools, only SOME professors have
> Ph.D's. At such schools it might be a matter of pride to
> claim your Ph.D., but at a really "good" school,
> the expectation is that EVERYONE has a Ph.D., so claiming it
> is an unnecessary luxury. I could never say "Mr.
> Smith" with a straight face, although I tried.
>
>
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