[stylist] Using titles to refer to people

Thu Apr 2 03:40:07 UTC 2009

Angela:

I don't know if I am reading too much into it.  I don't know hearing culture
as far as conversational speech is concerned--do you all call those with
Ph.Ds Dr.?

But I know a lot about what gets printed in publications and what certain
things signify.  Iin articles, you do not refer people with Ph.Ds Dr. at
all, unless it's a news article that quotes a medical doctor or a scientist.
But the rest of them, you just don't call them Dr.  In the event the person
IS a M.D. but the story is about fishing, and this M.D. won the regional
angling contest, nothing to do with his medical practice, you don't call him
Dr. 

In the rare case that a publication has a strict and archaic policy of
calling everyone by a title first, e.g. Mr. Ms. Mrs. And Dr., then, sure you
do use the title, but it'[s only because everyone else is titled too.

But common usage dictates that you don't use Dr.

Ii've read a lot of publications, for research, going back hundreds of
years.  NAACP's old Clarion Call used every opportunity to use Dr. until the
late twenties or so, and after that it was dropped.  You read their organ,
you won't see Dr. all over the place, even if a lot of the people mentioned
do have Ph.Ds.  The Deaf community took a while longer to get it out of its
system, but it did.  

I get my first issue of the Braille Monitor, I found so many Dr.s that it
just smacked of a serious inferiority complex problem and it felt so
pretensious to me, so immature.

Don't get me wrong, I admire the accomplishments of the people mentioned.
But to be honest with you, all of those people will look much better, far
more credible, and speak more powerfully without the silly old-fashioned Dr.
next to their names in print.  I would have been more impressed by them
without the title, because my attention would be trought more directly to
actual accomplishments and the actual merit of their thoughts and ideas.

There are many articles by linguists, PR experts, and the like that strongly
advise against using this title.  Feel gree to Google on this!

John

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Angela fowler
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 7:46 PM
To: 'NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: [stylist] Using titles to refer to people

Most people who have PHDs are referred to as Doctor. I think you're reading
way too much into it. 

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of John Lee Clark
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 1:02 PM
To: 'NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] Heroes of the blind community

Hey, all:

I notice NFB's tendency to take pains to refer to people with doctorates as
Dr.  Am I to read into this a kind of inferiority complex and if you have a
doctorate you make sure it is known and touted?

If so, Ii recommend scrapping this altogether.  You may think it builds
credibility, but the fact you mention Dr. at all suggests it is SPECIAL for
a blind person.  But it shouldn't be considered special, but only a matter
of course--of course you've got a whole colony of blind doctors!  Even if
you don't have that many, it's good to be nonchalant about it.

But I can sympathize.  The Deaf community used to make a big deal of the
title Dr. but that was back in the 1930s.  Nowadays, Deaf Ph.Ds are common
as dirt.  

But I make this suggestion only from the perspective of language
manipulation.  Understatements are better than overstatements.

John

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of LoriStay at aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 8:16 AM
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [stylist] Heroes of the blind community

Start with the leaders:   Louis Braille, Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, Dr. Kenneth 
Jernigan, and many other leaders from NFB.
Lori
In a message dated 3/31/09 11:59:04 PM, jbron at optonline.net writes:

> 
> >> Who are the biggest legendary figures or heroes of the blind community?
> >>
> 

**************
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